Both working as a READI Chicago Austin job coach and in my personal life, gun violence has impacted me greatly. It was recently the anniversary of my friend’s death, and as a coach in READI, I’ve lost many participants. It has an impact on you and how you move in the world. There are so many people in our communities trying to deal with their feelings of grief, and that just creates more problems—it has lasting effects.
Working for READI Chicago, I try to offer my participants the support and skills to be able to work through frustration and problems that might escalate otherwise. I try to get them to be open to therapy, and the work we do intervening and mediating is really important. I try to help my guys understand the bigger picture and learn how to move past disagreements so we can grow as a community and as a people.
I want people to know that gun violence hurts. It’s easy to pick up a gun and go out and do something stupid, but the lasting effects of that are crazy. There are no words. I want people not to take life for granted, and before they do something to think, is this person’s life worth doing this? Is my own life worth it?
