Lewiston counseling center helps heal pain from mass shooting

When the Maine Resilience Center opened its doors 19 days after the mass shooting, some of those who entered had just left their homes for the first time since October 25.

During a time of uncertainty and grief, the center provided a safe place for survivors, witnesses, families and friends of victims, first responders, and anyone in the community affected by the shooting.

“It was one of the most beautiful things I had the opportunity to witness. “I learned a lot about love, grief and life after grief,” said Monica Linder, one of the attorneys who works with guests at the center.

Over the past year, the center has become a critical resource for more than 400 people who come for weekly support groups, to learn coping skills or for help finding a counselor.

It’s a place where they can “share their experiences, how trauma or traumatic grief has affected them, and learn from others that they are not alone and that they have normal reactions to a very abnormal event that they have experienced.” it happened in our community,” said Danielle Parent, the center’s director.

The center is owned by Community Concepts Inc., which worked with the city of Lewiston, the state and other partners to open the space. It is managed by. The city and the Maine Attorney General’s Office are covering operating costs for the center, which will be covered by a federal grant from the Counterterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program.

This grant, which is currently in the application process, will fund the center for 27 months and keep it open until at least early 2026. Parent said this could be extended and Community Concepts wants the center to remain open permanently.

The center features meeting spaces with sofas and comfortable chairs donated by local businesses, a children’s area with toys and art supplies, and other areas where people can gather and talk. Artwork covers the wall. One wall is devoted to various cards, pictures and signs that people have sent in to support the community.

For Tammy Asselin, who was at the bowling alley with her daughter, the center became an anchor to process her pain and trauma. She said it helped her to talk to people who understood what was happening and were going through many of the same emotions.

“It’s amazing to know how similar our paths are, like we went through something different to begin with and maybe we’re here for different reasons, but our journeys are so similar,” Asselin said.

The center will remain open for at least another year, but over time the resources offered may change to meet people in recovery. Parent said it will continue to be important to have a place where people can come together and understand that it’s okay to not be okay.

“Things will continue to happen in people’s lives that will impact the healing process of their trauma. We will have new births. “There will be new deaths,” he said. “There will be life events like weddings, there will be holidays, and there will be events like commissions, for example; all of these add layers and change the course of trauma healing.”

This story is part of an ongoing collaboration with FRONTLINE (PBS) and Maine Public, which includes an upcoming documentary. Powered through FRONTLINEs. Local Journalism InitiativeFunded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.