More than 100 kids age 4-13 who have suffered in some way because of gun violence are healing, learning and seeing a whole new world of possibility as part of the Future Healers program. 2X Game Changers, in partnership with University of Louisville Medical School doctors and students and the UofL Hospital Trauma Institute, engage the kids in a fun curriculum focused on health and science. They gather for monthly sessions, wearing surgical scrubs as they practice basic first aid, learn about nutrition, or how to handle emotional and physical stress for improving mental health, with inspiring UofL Medical students and doctors as their mentors and teachers.

What could be more enjoyable and therapeutic for a kid than being around animals and nature? Our Future Healers Got Zoo Buddies, in partnership with the Louisville Zoo, teaches kids about animal care and behaviors, while exposing them to all the Zoo has to offer. They’re healing and learning valuable life lessons as a result.

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“Children suffer if they get hit by a bullet, witness a shooting, lose someone close or live on edge because the crack of gunshots is as common as the chirping of a songbird. They often can’t focus or learn in school. Some can’t sleep and have nightmares. Some withdraw, others act out or retaliate and resort to violence themselves. ... Education, starting in early childhood, is the key to ending gun violence and its devastating impact on kids’ learning”

~ Christopher 2X

Future Healers and Future Healers Got Zoo Buddies, believed to be the first of these kinds of programs in the country, were the focus of a national FBI leadership training session in Washington D.C.

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Christopher 2X Honored by FBI

The therapeutic and healing power of nature and animals is the focus of Planet Savers Zoo Club established by 2X Game Changers. In partnership with the Louisville Zoo and an existing Community Access and Engagement grant the Zoo received from the Brown-Forman Foundation, 100 Game Changers families were gifted family membership to the Zoo to enhance their connection and engagement as Planet Savers.

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Voices of Survivors, a community outreach program of 2X Game Changers, aims to create a therapeutic space for coping and provides a community for victims and survivors of gun violence. This is a small but growing and underserved community. Many cannot speak of their loss and pain, and it is so important for them to have support and mutual understanding. A second goal is for them to have opportunities to act as advocates for change in their communities by reinforcing the sanctity of human life and creating ways to involve the public,a way to honor the lives of their lost loved ones and to keep their legacies alive. Voices of Survivors participants also engage with the Future Healers programs.

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Velvet Welch

Voices of Survivors Chaplain

Velvet Welch, a retired U.S. Army Veteran, is a 2022graduate of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity. As our chaplain, specifically for the Voices of Survivors Program, she assists families through the grief process, is a presence of empathy, and provides active listening. She affirms their pain and helps families walk through their pain to a space of being a survivor and learning how to cope with life again after the death of a loved one. She is also Chaplain at Jewish Hospital and previously served at the Robley Rex Veteran Medical Center.

Voices of Survivors - List of Resources