These agencies helped many after Parkland shootings. Now they’ll get a cut of $9.8 million

In the days, weeks and months following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the School Board of Broward County, Children’s Services Council of Broward County and the United Way of Broward County stepped in to help those impacted by the tragedy.

Those three agencies, which worked in collaboration with the cities of Parkland and Coral Springs, will now receive a share of $9.8 million from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program grant.

The money, distributed by the department’s Office for Victims of Crime, will be used to reimburse the agencies and to fund ongoing services to students, families, staff and other members of the community.

On Feb 14, 2018, confessed shooter Nikolas Cruz, who was then 19, entered the Parkland high school and killed 17 students and staff members. Seventeen others were injured in the shooting. Cruz, who is facing the death penalty, is awaiting his trial.

“It has been more than two years since that tragic day, but the survivors and families of the victims will carry their emotional scars for many years to come,” said Broward Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch in a news release.

The funds will be disbursed by the Florida Department of Legal Affairs’ Division of Victim Services and Criminal Justice Program.

“I was so moved by the way our community rushed to help one another in the wake of the attack and has continued to provide mental health and wellness services to those still coping with the trauma,” Deutch said in the statement. “This grant is acknowledgment that the survivors of this mass shooting, who have experienced unimaginable trauma, will need and deserve continued federal support to manage their pain and heal.”