Conclusion
For Chicago’s gun violence survivors who become disabled, there are a host of challenges to address after they become injured: reacquiring mobility and cognition, finding an accessible place to live, finding a job, and much more. It is critical to build a bridge to intentionally link health care and community supports to survivors of gun violence with newly acquired disabilities.
This work by its very nature is disability justice work. It is an issue that, in Chicago, affects our most marginalized neighbors, and at its deepest essence is important care work. Gun violence survivors need resources, but many also need that mentor with a disability, someone who has traveled the same road, endured the same trauma. The new life of a survivor requires an enormous amount of energy and imagination — but no one needs to start from scratch, if they can have the right support. We know that disabled people are nothing if not ingenuous.
At Access Living, we want people to know their rights and to defend themselves. However, we also want people to feel they have the time and energy to dream themselves into their best lives. We want them to feel care. That is the space and the programming that we need to build. The survivors have told us what they need.