Mother who has lost loved ones to gun violence uses her experience to help others
NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Melinda Hamilton knows firsthand what it feels like to lose loved ones to gun violence.
"In 2018 I lost my daughter in a drive-by shooting where 10 people got shot," she said. "Two years later, I got a call from my daughter and my grandson got shot in the back from some bullies and he was 19-years-old."
After going through this tragedy, she decided to use her experiences to help others.
In 2020 she launched the non-profit Mothers of Murdered Angels. It comforts those who have experienced the loss of children to gun violence, while also advocating to stop it.
"It's not just me that was affected when that happened with my grandson or my daughter.. it's their friends, their cousins, everybody and everybody is going through trauma right now and you know trauma is a big issue," she said.
When it comes to shooting at schools like what we've seen in Arlington and Dallas, the experts say conversations with your kids are critical.
"Children are going to hear about this whether it is on the playground from their peers or at an after-school program," Dr. Jessica Gomez said.
Gomez is a licensed psychologist and executive director of Momentous Institute, which helps children develop social and emotional skills at an early age.
She said with conversations on gun violence, there are some key things to remember.
"Depending on their age, start with the facts," she said. "I would say, validate the child's feelings, don't shy away from it and then have an open conversation about it. If it starts to impact them, kind of normalize having these conversations."
However, if it's impacting their ability to function, especially after two weeks, she says don't be afraid to speak to professionals.
"We need to be there to support them and talk with them, ask them questions about how they're feeling, how they're feeling and how we can be of help to them," MOMA's Karen Johnson said.
At the end of this month, Mothers of Murdered Angels will attend Survivors Speak. The annual event takes place at eight state capitols, including Texas.
"We have about 45 that will be attending on our bus, but I think there's over 300 total will be attending in Austin," Johnson said.
They say they'll be calling on legislators to support bills that help survivors, especially when it comes to financial compensation.
