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Chicago Stories of Survival
The police kept me from saying my final goodbye. The experience showed me how cold the justice system can be for survivors.
Chicago
The neighborhoods with the most bloodshed need adequate medical services.
As the youngest child, I don’t have many memories of my brother and sister. I have documents.
When my daughter was shot in the Gold Coast, her story received media attention, and her killer was sentenced. When my son was shot in Hazel Crest, his story barely made the news — and we were treated like criminals.
I’ve carried my trauma every day since I was 11. As a corrections officer, I recognize it in every aspect of the justice system that failed to solve my brother’s shooting.
Chicago’s patchwork of victims services has few resources designed to meet the specific needs of those who’ve lost siblings to gun violence. These people are working to fill in the gaps.
When someone is shot and killed, police keep their body as evidence in a homicide investigation. But some families long to say their final goodbyes.
Philadelphia
Philadelphia’s status as the nation’s poorest big city is a major cause of its gunfire.
The seven participants in The Trace’s Survivor Storytelling Workshop say both the city and state lack policies to help the bereaved.
Mayor Brandon Johnson promised to prioritize mental health, but survivors say they’re struggling to access sufficient care.
Children and young adults often feel overlooked after losing a loved one to gun violence. Survivors want schools to step up, and the city to hire youth-focused advocates.
Processing a sudden, violent loss takes more than a few days. Participants in The Trace’s Survivor Storytelling Workshop say that schools and workplaces should offer more time off, flexibility, and understanding around bereavement.
In the aftermath of a sudden loss, gun violence survivors say they need empathy and guidance from law enforcement.
In Philadelphia, gunfire has taken grandfathers, brothers, cousins, and children. The losses reflect the institutional racism at the root of America’s shooting epidemic.
Centuries of inequitable social policy have kept Black Philadelphians dying at disproportionately high rates.
