INDIANAPOLIS — Gun violence is weighing heavy on the hearts of some women in Indianapolis.
Whether they’ve lost someone themselves or know of someone — they say it’s causing them trauma and grief.
“Gun violence. A lot of nonfatal, homicides, beatings, stabbings, robbery. That’s trauma. How do we heal and navigate through that?”
DeAndra Dycus is the Executive director and Founder of Purpose 4 My Pain.
She started the nonprofit after her 13-year-old son was critically wounded.
Purpose 4 My Pain provides mentorship, media engagement, and victim advocacy for those affected by gun violence.
“We just wanted to give a safe space for women and families to talk about mental health and acknowledging our trauma and how do we work through it," Dycus said.
On Saturday, a group of women gathered for Healing Trauma Through the Arts where they created something called the inside out mask.
“The concept is on the outside of the mask, you write how everyone else sees you. What are the positive things people are seeing? But on the inside of the mask, it’s the things I say about myself. The things that I may not feel so good about," she said.
Candice Green with the Kween project says it was nice to build community and discuss her experiences with women like her.
“We have to face what is really bothering us on the inside. We have to face these demons. We have to face what is really challenging for us in order to heal through it," Green said.
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