LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville nonprofit's program focused on providing support for children impacted by gun violence is going to Washington, D.C.

Partners of Christopher 2X Game Changers' Future Healers and Future Healers Got Zoo Buddies are participating in an FBI training session to share how its programming can be a model for the rest of the country.

Started in July 2021, the Future Healers program is designed for children between the ages of 4 to 13 years old. More than 110 children impacted by gun violence experience fun and educational activities with the program.

FUTURE HEALERS DC

Future Healers Got Zoo Buddies at the Louisville Zoo.

"We're so proud of this invitation from the FBI to help train their workforce, and we're grateful to our partners at the Zoo and UofL who recognize the importance for our community to help these kids heal, learn to be compassionate and have hope for a bright future," 2X said.

On a cold December Saturday, Heaven Bryant and her four children's lives changed in an instant.

"We were on the bed watching TV and I just started hearing loud noises and then it got closer and closer and I heard shattering glass and I'm like 'okay something is wrong,'" Bryant recalled. "Me and the kids got on the floor and then when I heard complete silence I looked out. We were in the middle of a drive-by shooting." 

Bryant's townhome and surrounding neighbors were shot at by a person using an AK-47 assault rifle. She said that night "changed everything" for her children, all under the age of 10, who were inside the home.

"I've seen it in bed-wetting. My oldest son Shamaun, he was acting out in school because he didn't understand what happened. Shane asked about guns all the time," Bryant said. "I can't compare how they all took it, but Shiloh, he was in his preschool class and he's been going to the Y with me since he was six weeks. I couldn't get him to go in his classroom for months. He had a very severe attachment issue and I didn't know how to deal with that."

The effects of gun violence can be long lasting.

But now, years later, Bryant is seeing a change thanks to a local program.

The Future Healers program is a partnership between Christopher 2X Game Changers, UofL Hospital's Trauma Institute and students at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. 

Future Healers Got Zoo Buddies, a partnership between Game Changers and the Louisville Zoo, teaches children about care for animals with the ultimate goal of creating a sensitivity toward animals. The initiative was created to explore the healing and therapeutic power of animals for children experiencing secondary trauma from gun violence. 

"Coming from our experience we always wonder like are we going to recover? And then our children, are they going to recover?" Bryant said. "So this program, it gave us an amazing opportunity to do different things to get our minds off of what happened, even though that's hard to deal with."

Bryant's children, Shamaun, Shane, Shiloh and Skylar are all part of Future Healers Got Zoo Buddies. They get to feed seals, sea lions, learn what turtles eat and even pet the oldest animal at the Louisville Zoo, a tortoise. 

FUTURE HEALERS DC

Future Healers Got Zoo Buddies at the Louisville Zoo.

"They are in love with the animals here, in love with the staff," Bryant said. "I see happiness. Their emotions, the way they communicate, less words about violence."

Bryant is seeing a transformation in her children because they aren't scared anymore.

Their lives are changing one trip to the zoo at a time.

"It's beautiful," Bryant said. "They deserve that. They deserve to talk about what kids should be talking about."

2X is scheduled to participate in a panel discussion on Tuesday at the J. Edgar Hoover Building for FBI leadership training. UofL's Dr. Chris Jones and Dr. Keith Miller, UofL School of Medicine student Karen Udoh and the Louisville Zoo's Education Curator Kim Allgeier will also speak.

"Future Healers got Zoo Buddies program has connected kids with animals and nature to emphasize their therapeutic power," Louisville Zoo Director Dan Maloney said in a news release. "We hope this new approach will have positive healing ripple effects as these young people become lovers of wildlife and nature, grow to feel included and comfortable in wild places, and ultimately become conservation heroes."

In a letter written to 2X, James Robert Brown, Jr., assistant director of the FBI's Operational Technology Division said the impact of trauma on children is "heavy."

WDRB will be attending the panel discussion in Washington, D.C. and will have continuing coverage of the event.

If you'd like information on how to get your kids involved with Future Healers, contact the Christopher 2X Game Changers organization.

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