Advocates say Virginia’s $10 million mass violence care fund would give ‘a glimmer of hope’

A phone call woke Sarah Gayle Leonard from a nap on May 31, 2019.

A friend had horrifying news: There was a mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center, where Leonard’s mother — Mary Louise Gayle — had worked for more than two decades. Leonard immediately called her mom, but Gayle didn’t pick up. She frantically called again and again.

Her mother never answered.

Leonard said she recognizes there is no easy way to lose a loved one. But she said losing someone to mass violence is a special kind of hell that requires additional support.

“She was essentially beheaded by a bullet,” Leonard said, her voice catching. “She had to be carried out of the building in two pieces — this type of trauma, there aren’t even that many therapists that are used to dealing with it.”

In the aftermath of the shooting, some pushed the state to create the Virginia Mass Violence Care Fund. The fund would help survivors of mass violence and victims’ family members with their long-term mental and physical health needs not covered by insurance. Budget conferees included the $10 million needed to launch the fund in a recent state budget deal, which the General Assembly will vote on Wednesday. The care fund’s advocates applaud the move — but wish it had been in place sooner.

“We didn’t have continuity of care,” said Leonard, explaining how some struggled to afford therapy, medications or in-patient care. “There are so many people in our community who want to talk to (the media), but they can’t because they are at rock-bottom right now. This fund gives a glimmer of hope.”

The care fund is intended to be self-sustaining. The $10 million would be invested and the money it brings in would support those impacted by mass violence.

Survivors and victims’ family members would be eligible to receive assistance at the three-year mark. Other forms of support are often available, such as federal grant money or private donations from community members, for the first two years after a tragedy.

But trauma doesn’t always go away in a year or two, Leonard said.

Leonard explained she’s still triggered by rain. She can’t drive in a storm because it was raining the night she waited, rosary in hand, to learn if her mom had survived.

She said she left her last job because she became terrified that a disgruntled customer would shoot her. She’s also has nightmares with gory images of her mother’s face.

“Sometimes I wake up and just vomit,” she said. “I want everyone to understand that this is an ongoing tragedy for us.”

The Virginia Beach Mass Shooting Commission, a state panel investigating the massacre, advised the General Assembly in 2022 to create the care fund. Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler, D-Virginia Beach, and Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, proposed budget amendments last year that would have allocated the $10 million. Attorney General Jason Miyares, a former Virginia Beach delegate, also backed the idea.

But the money ultimately wasn’t included in last year’s budget plan.

This year, Gov. Glenn Youngkin supported the care fund, including the $10 million in his proposed budget amendments. His proposal came in the wake of two other mass shootings in the commonwealth, including one at a Chesapeake Walmart on Nov. 22 that left six employees dead.

In a statement Wednesday, Ryant Washington, chair of the mass shooting commission, said he believes the fund is crucial.

“It is imperative that victims receive assistance after such tragedies,” he wrote in an email. “The Commission is dedicated to providing further recommendations to minimize the risk of these types of events.”

Joe Samaha, one of the fund’s strongest advocates, said last week he “absolutely” believes it will save lives. He hopes other states will follow Virginia’s example and launch care funds.

Samaha, whose daughter was killed in the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech, is the director of victims and survivor advocacy for the VTV Family Outreach Foundation, a nonprofit that assists mass shooting survivors nationwide. He previously told The Pilot that long-term care is needed because grief and trauma can come in waves.

“Healing is not linear,” said Samaha, who sought therapy for the first time eight years after his daughter’s death.

Others had hoped for more from the state.

“The care fund is great,” said Jason Nixon, whose wife, Kate, was killed in the Virginia Beach shooting. “But it just angers me because the other request wasn’t considered.”

A group represented by attorney Justin Fairfax, dubbed the 5/31 Families United, had asked the General Assembly this year to allocate $25 million directly to the victims families and $15 million to city employees who were impacted.

The request did not appear to gain any traction.

“Kate was the breadwinner in our family; I didn’t have the education (she did) so our family has been turned upside down,” said Nixon, who has three daughters.

Leonard agreed.

“I am not going to sugarcoat that the care fund is not enough,” said Leonard, who is among the critics who say the city mistreated survivors and victims’ families in the aftermath of the shooting. “It is not justice for my mother.”

Leonard described her mom as her best friend. She said they used to talk on the phone several times a day.

Holidays are especially difficult because Gayle was known for being festive. She was the type who liked to dress up on Halloween and give out treats on Valentine’s Day.

“She was a joyful woman,” said Leonard. “I was a happy person before this, too.”

Gun violence has rocked the commonwealth in the past few years.

Two mass shootings in 2022 garnered national attention; one at the Chesapeake Walmart and another at the University of Virginia. There have also been incidents of gun violence among minors and an uptick in overall gun homicides.

The Virginia Department of Health recorded 457 gun homicides statewide in 2020, 508 in 2021 and 561 in 2022. The preliminary count so far for 2023 stands at 352.

James Moore, a former Virginia Beach city employee who survived the shooting, said the never-ending gun violence makes it harder to heal.

“Guns are going off constantly,” he said, adding he stays at home more now because he’s scared of being shot.

Explaining his struggles with post traumatic stress, Moore added that there’s a generational impact.

“I can’t be a part of my kids’ lives in the same way that I was prior to that day,” he said. “People need to realize that aspect of it.”

Bethany Teachman, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, said responses to mass violence can greatly vary. But she said those who lose someone from violence are at an increased risk for depression or post traumatic stress disorder.

“We do know that the likelihood of having prolonged grief disorder, sometimes referred to as complicated grief, is certainly higher among people who are bereaved following a violent event versus a more natural kind of death,” she said. “We have lots of studies supporting that idea.”

Teachman explained tragedies like a mass shooting can shake someone’s entire world view.

“It becomes hard (for survivors) to trust people or to trust that the world is generally a safe place,” she said. “Recognize that recovery can take time. There can be a huge outpouring of support immediately after but really people are going to need support for years.”

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com