LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A special ceremony this weekend remembered the nearly 200 people killed in Louisville last year by gunfire.
The simple act of lighting a candle symbolized the lives in Louisville snuffed out far too soon.
“Just really settling into the space of remembrance and thinking about those lives that didn't get a chance to bloom and develop into who they were truly meant to be," said Christie Welch, Game Changers deputy director.
Welch hosted the Voices of Survivors event at the Chestnut Street YMCA ballroom as a gathering of healing.
The lighting of 188 candles represented the 188 homicides in Louisville in 2021.
The larger candle represented the hundreds of others who were wounded by gun violence.
"A lot of times we throw around these numbers, and they're just numbers," said Welch. "But whenever we put something physical to it, like a candle, or even just a memory, we start to really realize the sheer gravity of what is going on."
People were able to share about their lost loved ones, and tried to put to words the pain gun violence causes for those left behind.
“Since that day, my life and my children's lives have been changed so drastically," said Georgetta Calloway, whose husband was killed. “To lose a loved one in that manner, it makes it even worse.”
Welch knows those feelings all too well, as someone who’s also lost people to gun violence.
“Thinking about the memories that I had, the memories that could have been. The life they could have had and who they could have been, one day," Welch said. "But I’m trying to do the best I can to remember them in this moment.”
Though not all 188 families could attend because of COVID, Welch hopes everyone impacted knows they are not forgotten.
"We are remembering you at Game Changers, and we are that partner for you to reach out to whenever you need that help, whenever you need that helping hand," said Welch.
She adds they have a number of programs for survivors, including a chaplain.
If you, or someone you know, may benefit from those resources, information for all of the Game Changers programs can be found by clicking here.
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