Commemorative gathering plans to help show community support for Lewiston mass shooting victims
Apr. 24—LEWISTON — Though the Oct. 25, 2023, mass shooting in Lewiston was six months ago, for survivors and victims' families the trauma is still very much in the present.
According to Maine Resiliency Center Director Danielle Parent, the shooting breached a sense of safety and security in public spaces for many people.
"It's very important that we don't ever say people are healed or look at it as a problem to be fixed because the reality is that this is something that will forever be a part of somebody's life — for many people's lives," she said.
Parent said community support is something that can help people struggling with trauma and grief. The Resiliency Center has planned a private gathering commemorating the six-month anniversary of the shooting, and its victim survivor advisory committee also requested part of the commemoration be open to the public.
The 6:30 p.m. gathering Thursday at Simard-Payne Memorial Park is intended to be a way to show support for the victims and survivors of the mass shooting in which 18 people were killed and many others injured at Schemengee's Bar & Grille on Lincoln Street and Just-In-Time Recreation on Mollison Way.
The Resiliency Center, operated by Community Concepts, opened three weeks later and has operated as a safe place for people to seek help with navigating community resources through trauma-informed volunteers and providers.
It offers different types of support, including group sessions, to those who were affected by the shooting, Parent said. She emphasizes that the Resiliency Center is a place for the victims and survivors of the shooting as well as anyone in the community who feels affected by it.
The effects and manifestation of grief and trauma are different for everyone and often change and evolve over time, she said.
Parent often hears from people asking how they can help those victims and survivors and she tells people to ask them about their lost loved one or ask them if they want to talk about what their experience is like now and how they've been affected, she said. Some people might not want to talk in that moment, but many others enjoy talking about their loved ones and want people to know how their life has been affected.
Many individuals who were present during the shooting experienced trauma and are simultaneously dealing with grieving a lost loved one or friend in the incident, Parent said. Managing trauma and grief is complex but it helps to gather with others who experienced similar loss and trauma.
Ultimately the victim survivor advocacy group wanted members of the public to be there in support of those affected by the shooting, she said.
"To open the commemoration to the larger community so that they can share in a moment of remembrance, a moment of commemoration, and honor the memories of those that were killed, honor those that are still with us and acknowledge the ripple impact of this," Parent said. "It was important to them to feel seen and to feel heard, for the community to acknowledge that this is still very much impacting individuals."
On Thursday, people are encouraged to wear blue and place lights in their windows — a display of solidarity people did soon after the shooting that was meaningful to the victims and survivors, Parent said.
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