Paulette Smith’s son was killed in a homicide in 2021 and three years later she’s still paying off the apartment where she found his body after the landlord refused to let her break the lease. Caught in a vicious debt cycle from the tragedy, and her savings depleted, Smith now lives in a close friend’s basement.
“You have to rebuild your life,” she said. “And it’s really, really hard and there’s not much help out there.”
Just off Cleveland Avenue in south Atlanta on Thursday night, Smith’s story echoed others who gathered and shared their experiences with gun violence — either as victims or as family members.
Some said they were forced to leave their jobs when their employer wouldn’t give them time off to grieve, and that the high cost of therapy was keeping them from receiving mental health services.
Advocates say the startling lack of short- and long-term support for crime victims isn’t unique to Atlanta but a deep-rooted issue that persists across the country. That’s why thousands are expected to gather in the nation’s capital for the Crime Survivors Speak March on Washington event later this month.
The first-of-its-kind rally is intended to amplify calls for policies that prioritize healing, prevention and recovery for victims who experts say are often retraumatized when navigating the criminal justice system.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
In 2009, Aswad Thomas had just graduated college and was on his way to play professional basketball in Europe when he was shot during an attempted robbery at a convenience store.
The incident ended his career, he said, and his long journey toward recovery opened his eyes to the lack of resources for victims.
“Recovering from those wounds physically was the easiest part for me,” he said. “The psychological effects of that shooting was what I struggled with the most.”
“And many of us go through those experiences alone,” Thomas said. “All survivors deserve the right to heal.”
The Atlanta resident is the national director of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, which is organizing the caravan of buses from across the country that will descend on Washington Sept. 23-24 — and they’re bringing a long to-do list with them.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
Crime survivors are calling for federal lawmakers to rethink the criminal justice system and a new approach to victim’s rights. The group’s policy proposals include establishing a network of community-based trauma centers, codifying job security, creating pathways to debt forgiveness and expanding financial support offered by the government.
“All across the country, there isn’t an infrastructure of support that should help people heal and recover from the violence that they experience, and that’s been like that for decades,” Thomas said. “Most people don’t know where to go to get help.”
Tekesia Shields, founder of Mothers Against Gang Violence, is leading the trek north from Atlanta and already has a long list of names who want to join.
“We want to make sure everybody’s voices are heard,” she said. “We want to make sure policies are transformed.”
Despite dipping homicide numbers across all of Atlanta last year, residents in communities where gun violence persists say they’re struggling to find solutions.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
Council member Antonio Lewis who represents south Atlanta has been spearheading initiatives like handing out gun lock boxes for cars and career fairs for high schoolers as part of an effort to curb youth violence.
“I think we are at risk of losing a generation of young Black men,” he said. “I don’t think we can lock up our way out of this.”
On the same day that gun violence victims and their families gathered in south Atlanta, 50 miles away in Barrow County, residents were reeling from a deadly shooting at Apalachee High School. Two students and two teachers were killed by a 14-year-old shooter. Nine others were injured.
“Within six to nine months the media attention is going to go away, the resources are going to go away, those students and families need that long-term counseling support,” Thomas said about the incident that took place just hours earlier.
“It’s the same in the inner city of Atlanta,” Thomas said. “Crime and violence is happening every single day.”
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