Next Step program helps survivors of violence, families navigate trauma after tragedy
When tragedy struck Annunciation Catholic Church last week, and children were rushed to nearby hospitals, 10 patients landed at HCMC in downtown Minneapolis.
A team trained to show up—and show support—was at the ready.
The following day at a press conference with doctors, Larry Burgess and Rico Amos stood alongside their colleagues as they were recognized for their compassion just a day earlier when unthinkable happened during school Mass.
"I saw firsthand in this room yesterday these team members—I saw them holding hands with families and praying with them and it was just amazing," Christine Hill, media relations manager at Hennepin Healthcare, told reporters.
The group is part of Next Step, a violence intervention program designed to connect survivors of injuries like gunshot wounds with resources and support. They are also there for their families, as was the case last week when Annunciation parents and family members waited patiently to learn the status of their loved ones.
"We don't say victims; we say survivors. They are survivors, and it's important to know that they're not alone in this," said Amos, a violence intervention manager with Next Step, in an interview with WCCO Wednesday.
Next Step launched nine years ago and is now at other nearby hospitals, North Memorial, Children's Minnesota and Abbott Northwestern. To date, 900 people have participated in the voluntary program, which includes follow-ups after a paitent is discharged from the hospital.
As of Wednesday, one week after the shooting, two children remain in the hospital at HCMC and Children's Minnesota, respectively. Two children, eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Mosyki lost their lives that day and 21 were hurt by gunfire, students and three adults in their eighties who were attending Mass.
"Just being that calm presence, letting them know that, 'hey, we're with you during this time right here' that tends to go a long way," Burgess said.
Both of them said they are mourning what happened at Annunciation, too, and said grief is a process that takes time. They said carrying an emotional load in their line of work is worth it if it means taking a weight off of survivors' shoulders.
"I'm just appreciative of the fact that we are in this position to be a light to individuals and families during a dark time," Burgess said. "We try to take the stress of all the things that they're going to be worried about—whether it's bills, whether it's food—we try to take all of that off of them, just so that they can focus on their healing so they can get back to where they need to be."