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CURRENT
ISSUE: May 7, 2007
VOL.
45, NO. 9Oakland,
CA
Catholic Charities to help families cope
with grief over young murder victims
 |
| A young woman walks past crosses in front of St.
Columba Church, representing those murdered last year in Oakland.
So far this year, 30 crosses have been erected. GREG TARCZYNSKI PHOTO |
In a new initiative
to support the grieving families of young murder victims in Oakland, Catholic
Charities of the East Bay is forming crisis-response teams that will be
on the scene within an hour of the police call.
The agency has received $300,000 of Oakland’s Measure Y funds to
operate the program, which begins May 12. Each team will have 2-3 members.
They will provide emotional support to the family during the first hours
after the tragedy and continue to assist with numerous practical tasks
for up to six months.
Millie Burns, CCEB’s deputy director of programs, said a team’s
tasks are likely to range from helping with funeral arrangements to counseling
the victim’s relatives and friends. Funds have been set aside for
such incidentals as appropriate clothes for the memorial service or flying
a sibling home from college.
The team will also link survivors to other social services agencies.
“Our goal is to offer compassionate survivor support,” she
said.
Burns said San Francisco has a similar crisis-team model for victims of
sexual assault, but this is the first time an organized response team
for homicides has been developed locally.
She believes that such support is essential, not only for the healing
of grief but also to help survivors turn their anger into positive actions
that help themselves and the community. She cited parents who lost a child
to murder and now organize violence prevention programs or are peer counselors
to other grieving parents.
Burns said she is particularly concerned about Oakland teens “who
have seen so much death among their peers. They have lost their sense
of security and hope.”
The crisis team members are volunteers with experience in social work
and grief counseling who are comfortable moving into crisis and trauma
situations, said Burns. They will receive 16 hours of training in crime
scene protocols and crisis intervention.
