BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Community groups like SNUG and MVP are working to curb gun violence and provide support for victims.
Willie Griffin is the lead hospital responder for SNUG and helps victims while they are in the hospital.
"They say 'Maybe I shouldn't have went to this party, maybe I should've been home', but it's not their fault that guns are out here and these things are happening," said Griffin. "You can't blame yourself."
SNUG is a collaboration between Buffalo Rising Against Violence at ECMC and the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, it views gun violence as a public health issue and works to improve the mental health of those impacted.
"It's normalized. It's something that they expected, it's not whether or not they will experience gun violence, but when," said Shannon King, the Clinical Director of the BRAVE Trauma Recovery Center.
King says through counseling and programming they work to help victims become survivors.
"Our goal is not to return them to the level of functioning that they were at prior to the injury, but to return them to the new level of functioning, to their new baseline," said King.
Through the work, Griffin and King do every day they hope to change the lives of those impacted by gun violence — both young and old.
"The things that we see here in the inner city in Buffalo is not what you see when you're living in the suburbs or you live in nicer communities, so we want to change the narrative that those same nice things can happen right here in our community," said Griffin.
MVP or the Most Valuable Parent program in Buffalo is working to heal our community through parenting, which Mia Ayers-Goss says needs to be done.
Mia Ayers-Goss says "We need everyone to help." You can see her passionate plea to the community in the full interview below.
"We are there to get to the root cause and to try to find solutions, resources and support," said Ayers-Goss. "But I would like to ask our community to take a good look in the mirror — what are you doing to help? It doesn't have to be your entire life."
"I want to raise my kids in this community, I want my kids to feel safe, just like everyone else's kids should feel safe," said Griffin.
Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael Keane joined 7 Voices on Monday to discuss law enforcement’s focus on illegal guns, you can watch the full conversation below
