San Joaquin County providing mental health resources as many struggle after Stockton mass shooting
As heartbreak lingers after the shooting claimed the lives of four people in Stockton, many mental health organizations are reaching out to let the community know they do have support.
"I mean, it's hard," Commodore Stockton Skills School Parent Mary Lopez said. "How do we get past it?"
Lopez has sent each of her children to Commodore Stockton Skills School, the same school that third-grade victim Journey Rose attended. She was one of the four people killed in Saturday's shooting.
Having this impact on their tight-knit community has been difficult to maneuver.
"What do you say?" Lopez asked. "It's hard. It's hard to navigate that. I mean, talking about it, you know, is one way to try to work through it, I guess."
Some parents don't know where to turn, questioning how to bring up these topics to their children, especially when it relates to the death of a classmate.
"It's something that I have been thinking about mentioning, but I just don't have the right words or the age-appropriate words to tell her," Aspire Apex Academy Martha Perez shared.
But there are resources for not just parents and students, but the entire community. That includes the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of San Joaquin County.
"What we do is provide resources for people who may be struggling, whether with mental health symptoms or a condition, and then we also offer support for family members who want to better understand and support their loved one and while also having a space for them to talk about these things that they're going through," NAMI San Joaquin County Outreach Coordinator Angie Huynh explained.
From 24/7 crisis hotlines, talk therapy, or connecting with other specific resources, NAMI provides these to everyone across the county for free. No insurance is needed.
"There are so many things that people, especially youth, can go through and no one has a single clue," Huynh said. "I think it's really important to be very open about the conversation and guide it in a way where it's there's no judgment and that many people deal with it, whether they know it or not."
For this community that leans on one another, they know they'll get through the other side together.
"We're very close and that's why I love Commodore," Lopez said. "My kids, all of them, graduated from here. We're confident that we're going to be okay, but it is going to take some time."
Aspire Apex Academy, the same school 8-year-old Maya Lupian attended, has counselors on campus.
Stockton Unified School District and the city also have a partnership with Care Solace, a 24/7/365 crisis support which is available to anyone within the city of Stockton.