LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- As violence continues to plague Louisville's streets, the city is backing a new initiative to offer support for spouses who have lost their loved ones.
It's called "Street Widows Week," and it begins this Sunday.
The term "Street Widow" was coined by Ashlee Johnson. The 33-year-old met her husband, Tiwuan, when she was 23.
"I turned him down a thousand times, then my brother said, 'Nah, there's something different about him,'" Johnson laughed, thinking about when she finally gave him a chance. "From that day on, we were inseparable."
On Feb. 19, 2020, the Louisville couple's love story changed forever.
Ashlee and Tiwuan Johnson are married in St. Augustine, Florida in June 2016. (Image Courtesy Ashlee Johnson)
"I had this life I dreamed of ... and that shattered," reflected Johnson.
The young mother of two was cooking dinner for her family. They were living in Georgia at the time when her husband told her he needed to run to the store. "I'll be right back," she remembers him saying.
A little while later, there was a commotion at her door. It was the police, shouting and banging on her door.
"That's how I found out my husband had been killed," she said.
Tiwuan has been shot and killed at a gas station down the street.
Tiwuan Johnson carries son on shoulders. Johnson was killed in February 2020 after being shot at a gas station in Atlanta. (Image Courtesy Ashlee Johnson)
According to the DeKalb County Police Department at the time, there had been some sort of argument prior to the shooting. To this day, exactly what happened is still unclear and there are no arrests in the case.
Johnson said her husband had taken her car, with both car seats inside it, so she had no way of getting to the scene for six hours.
"I'll never forget," she said. "It was raining, it was pouring down raining. And I can never forget just putting my nose down to the ground, like this is his blood, this is the last that I have of him."
Her life was changed in an instant, and Tiwaun's was taken far too soon.
"He was 34," Johnson said. "I have no answers."
She then started the long journey to process her grief as a young widow and mother of two and moved back to Louisville. While working to heal, she quickly realized there are very few platforms and resources for people like her dealing with trauma and grief.
Ashlee and Tiwuan Johnson smile with young son. (Image Courtesy by Ashlee Johnson)
"I have children who are going to grow up without a father," she said. "I can't teach my son how to be a man."
So, she started the Street Widows Podcast, highlighting stories and creating a community of support for other widows in the area.
This Sunday, Nov. 12, at 3 p.m. at the Presley Post on Main Street, Louisville will declare its first ever "Street Widows Week."
The goal is to raise awareness and raise money for women who have lost their husbands unexpectedly.
"We want to be a place where women can go and meet that need," Johnson said.
Johnson said she also hopes to gain support from local funeral homes to begin what she's calling "Widows Night Out" to offer spouses monthly events to gather and support one another through various fun activities.
"I'm issuing a challenge. Every funeral home in the city of Louisville and the surrounding areas, if they could take one month and sponsor Widows Night Out," she said. "Google says there are 497 funeral homes in this area. If one funeral home sponsors one month, we could do Widows Night Out for like 41 years."
As the holiday season gets into full swing, Johnson said now is a great time for people to get involved.
"The next few months for some people will be beautiful and loving and full of family and love, and for other people it's going to be dark and miserable and dim," she said. "I want those people to have the space to go. I want those people to have something to feel understood and seen."
Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
