Three years later: Boulder mass shooting victims' families receive more donations
March 22, 2024, marks exactly three years since a horrific shooting at a King Soopers in Boulder. All 10 people who were shot that day were killed.
Some families of those killed in the Boulder grocery store shooting say they've gotten another disbursement of funds raised in their name from a Colorado nonprofit called the Colorado Healing Fund, and they're questioning plans for handing more out to a local resource center that was set up immediately after the shooting to provide resources to any Boulder community members.
While some family members say they have begun to see progress in the transparency of that organization, more than $606,000 of money donated from the generous public remains to be distributed, something some victims' families also criticize.
The Healing Fund told families in a letter mailed to them this week the $606,000 in donations are being held back for now, so they can be used for more long-term needs in the future, like support during upcoming legal proceedings against the accused shooter. But Chuck Hunker, whose ex-wife and mother of his two daughters, Jody Waters, was killed in the shooting, feels three years have been long enough.
"There's all adults in the room, and there will be triggering events, and we will all have to deal with those as it comes, but if there are good community members who have given this money to help us in surviving this tragedy, then I think it's time to let everybody else have those funds go where it should go... where the funds could have the highest impact, and that's to those families that may be needing it right now just to cope and get through this," Hunker said.
Dozens of survivors and families of victims of several mass shootings in Colorado have called for more transparency and accountability from the Colorado Healing Fund, which has raised millions of dollars after the shootings at the Boulder King Soopers in 2021, Denver and Lakewood tattoo shops in 2021, and Club Q in 2022.
While Hunker was happy to see the Colorado Healing Fund provide a detailed letter explaining its expenditures and remaining amounts to his daughters when they received their checks in the mail, he still feels his overall outlook of the organization has "soured" after what he says has been three years of little to no communication from the people in charge.
"It's just that they haven't taken any input from the high-impacted families," Hunker said.
Hunker owned a business for 23 years with Waters. She was among the 10 people who were killed at the King Soopers on Table Mesa Drive in Boulder on March 22, 2021. Hunker has been handling estate matters for their two daughters, which includes donations from the Colorado Healing Fund.
Since the Boulder shooting, the Healing Fund has collected more than $4.8 million in donations. According to a letter sent to families, $620,000 will be divided this week among families of the people killed, and more than two dozen other people, including employees, customers, and first responders who were at the store that day.
Now that those checks have been distributed, the Healing Fund told families in the letter this week that it has now disbursed $4.2 million of the donations it collected.
CBS News Colorado reached out to the head of the Healing Fund for a comment, but we have not yet received a response. Previously, the Healing Fund has said it is completely transparent, and posts regular reports on its website.
Questions growing about donated money given to resource center
The Healing Fund also told families in the letter that it has given the #BoulderStrong Resource Center $577,719.13 so far of its total $749,100 pledge.
The BSRC says it has played an important role in providing free therapy and holistic supportive resources, including acupuncture and massage, to community members in Boulder affected by the shooting. It was created immediately after the shooting happened in March 2021, and is run by the nonprofit Mental Health Partners.
A spokesperson for Mental Health Partners said the BSRC served 689 unduplicated individuals in the 8.5 months that it was up and running in 2021, and saw about 200 visits a month. According to an article on its website, in July 2021, the facility said it served 30 to 40 people a week.
In 2022, the BSRC served 426 community members and people impacted by the shooting, and in 2023, it served 285 unique visitors.
The amount of people the BSRC is currently serving has sharply declined since its inception. In total since the start of 2024, the BSRC says it has served 47 unique individuals.
The spokesperson said so far in 2024, the BSRC services about 70 to 80 visits a month, which would average to only about four visits a day.
The BSRC tells CBS News Colorado it has four full-time staff currently working at the center, and some contract workers as needed.
The Healing Fund's original pledge to the resource center was $959,100, but in the Fund's most recent financial report, dated June-December 2023, and released in March 2024, the organization dropped the pledge by $210,000.
Some speculate mounting pressure may have played a role. Hunker said he didn't want to draw any conclusions.
"I'm not sure. It's hard for me to do cause-and-effect prognosis or thoughts on that," Hunker said. "I just hope that they are moving in more of a direction of what they claim to be and that's 'transparent.'"
Asked why the pledge amount changed, the head of the Healing Fund said the BSRC requested a reduction.
In a written statement to CBS News Colorado, a spokesperson for the BSRC explained the reason for the change, but indicated a smaller pledge amount than the figure head of the Healing Fund said in his letter to families this week:
"The amount of funds requested from the Healing Fund has not changed since 2021," said the BSRC spokesperson. "A pledge of $959k was identified early on, before the AEAP and Community Foundation grants were confirmed. We need several funding streams to keep the Center staffed, maintain a Boulder location for service delivery, programs, and services. Once additional funding was secured and confirmed during the first several months of the Center, updated projections led to a revised budget amount of $734,100. Those conversations occurred in the fall and winter of 2021. The pledged fund amount of $734k is still necessary to maintain the current rate of holistic services being utilized."
While the BSRC says the lower pledge amount has been in place since 2021, reports from the Healing Fund in 2021, 2022, and early 2023 said the pledge amount remained at $959,100.
CBS News Colorado asked the BSRC spokesperson: if conversations about the reduction happened in 2021, why wasn't the reduction in funding pledged reported until the June-December 2023 report was released in March 2024? But the spokesperson has not yet responded.
Hunker believes the facility has been a powerful tool for people in Boulder, but he feels it served its purpose, now that it has been three years, and remaining donations held by the Healing Fund should not go to the BSRC.
"I'd just say disburse the funds, and let's be done with this chapter of this crisis that's happened to our families," Hunker said.
Hunker said he and his family chose not to use the BSRC, and sought their own therapists instead.
A family member of another victim told CBS News Colorado they don't want to go to the BSRC, because at only seven minutes away from where the shooting occurred, it brings back difficult memories.
And the mother of Tralona Bartkowiak, who was also killed in the senseless shooting, lives in Oregon, and says she hasn't used the BSRC, nor did anyone ever ask her how she felt about donations being used for that purpose.
According to a Mental Health Partners spokesperson, the BSRC continues to provide helpful tools to people impacted by the shooting, sending the following written statement:
- The Boulder Strong Resource Center is a safe place of healing and support dedicated to serving as a resource and referral center for residents, visitors, and first responders affected by the Boulder Table Mesa shooting. The center's trained professionals know that people process grief and trauma differently and on their own timeline. As a result, therapy is never forced. In fact, therapy may not be for everyone, and that is okay. Our goal is to help you work through the traumatic experience to move forward in your life. Each person's journey and timetable are different. Some people may need to play with a comfort dog while others may need someone to talk to. It's all about helping you heal.
- We are a free walk-in clinic. No appointment necessary and you do not have to pay for services. We believe that no one should have to worry about how they are going to afford care—everyone deserves access to healing, especially after such a horrific event.
- Healing isn't linear and the path to recovery looks different for every person. Research tells us that it may not be until 1-3+ years after an event that someone impacted begins noticing that they are struggling now where they may not have struggled before. It may be only now that they reach out for support and access services at BSRC. Unfortunately, what we know from other mass shootings, is that healing can go on for years. We intend to keep operations going as long as there is community need.
- In events such as this, individuals didn't necessarily need to be at the store at the time of the event to feel impacted. If this was your store, where you felt safe to pick up a carton of eggs or run in for a loaf of bread with a quick hello to your favorite cashier, this was your community and you were impacted. The Center exists to help the community and all those affected heal together.
The spokesperson also said the following quotes are testimonials from clients who have utilized the BSRC's services:
- "My anxiety level, since the event, has decreased and I am more calm, relaxed, and grounded when making critical decisions."
- "Helped me feel safe in my community again."
- "The BSRC and its services are an integral part of the healing process for those who were affected."
- "I would say that I would've been unlikely to utilize these resources in the past, but I have no shame or insecurities to utilize these type of resources in the future because of Boulder Strong. I will continue to utilize these resources for as long as they are available."
- "This is a vital part of the community…the art and yoga series are very helpful too. Just getting a small notebook for painting or drawing because sometimes words don't work for me."
- "The same night after receiving the massage and AcuDetox, I was able to sleep throughout the night without any interruptions."
Meanwhile, Hunker says he'd like to see some legislation changes in the future, to ensure accountability and financial transparency, like requiring independent audits to be conducted and publicly released, or creating different long-term funding solutions for mass violence survivors and their families.
"I'd just like to affect some change," Hunker said, "and for our family to be done with the Healing Fund."
