Violence in Pittsburgh: Helping Communities Heal

Whether it’s an injury or an emotional response to gun violence, the Reverend Paul Abernathy believes that trauma if left untreated can be damaging. Abernathy took Pittsburgh‘s Action News 4 in his trauma response vehicle that is often at crime scenes with police. The vehicle and the people inside provide a safe space moments after unrest in a neighborhood. “It’s a mobile sanctuary in the truest sense,” he said. “People come here, they have this sanctuary experience. This safety experience. Pittsburgh saw a spike in violent crime starting that year. The homicide rate is ahead of what it was in 2021, according to Pittsburgh police. In April, there was a mass shooting at an Airbnb party with 200 people inside that killed two teenagers and injured several others. Abernathy said he and his staff at his volunteer organization Neighborhood Resilience Project immediately encountered teenage survivors. “Some of these children, they told me, don’t feel safe,” he said. “If these kids are unable to process that properly if they’re not able to grieve properly if they don’t have that sense of security to heal from that experience, then that experience could eventually lead them to take them themselves guns and carry guns and believe they can’t leave their homes unarmed. It takes me back to the experience of combat. And I think these kids are growing up in war.” Abernathy is a husband, a father, an Orthodox priest and a veteran of the war in Iraq. He started the Neighborhood Resilience Project 11 years ago after he said he saw violence in his city, including his Hill District Neighborhood. He compares it to war fighting and wants to heal these affected areas through trauma-informed community development. His team has been deployed more than 60 times to address homicide-related gun violence through 2021 – 46 times in 2020. “It’s time for us to come together,” Abernathy said. “Not just to talk, but to work.” Click here to learn more about the Neighborhood Resilience Project.

Whether it’s an injury or an emotional reaction to gun violence, the Reverend Paul Abernathy believes that trauma, if left untreated, can be damaging.

Abernathy took Pittsburgh‘s Action News 4 in his trauma response vehicle that is often at crime scenes with police. The vehicle and the people inside provide a safe space moments after unrest in a neighborhood.

“This is a mobile sanctuary in the truest sense of the word,” he said. “People come here, they have this sanctuary experience. This safety experience.

Pittsburgh saw a spike in violent crime starting that year. The homicide rate is ahead of what it was in 2021, according to Pittsburgh police.

In April, there was a mass shooting at an Airbnb party with 200 people inside that killed two teenagers and injured several others. Abernathy said he and his staff at his volunteer organization Neighborhood Resilience Project immediately encountered teenage survivors.

“Some of these children, they told me, don’t feel safe,” he said. “If these kids are unable to process that properly if they’re not able to grieve properly if they don’t have that sense of security to heal from that experience, then that experience could eventually lead them to take them They don’t even have guns and carry guns and believe they can’t leave their homes unarmed. It takes me back to the experience of combat. And I think these kids are growing up in times of war.”

Abernathy is a husband, father, Orthodox priest and Iraq War veteran. He started the Neighborhood Resilience Project 11 years ago after saying he saw violence in his town, including in his Hill District neighborhood.

He compares it to war fighting and wants to heal these affected areas through trauma-informed community development.

His team has been deployed more than 60 times to address homicide-related gun violence through 2021 – 46 times in 2020.

“It’s time for us to come together,” Abernathy said. “Not just to talk but to work.”

Click here to learn more about the Neighborhood Resilience Project.

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