Six Years After Sandy Hook, Traumatic Grief Still Grips Newtown Every Day

LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Maggie (Christ the King – Newtown, Connecticut)
(Thursday, April 4, 2019 – Boston Globe / Jenna Russell)

NEWTOWN, Conn. — Tucked into a quiet corner of this close-knit town, among the rolling hills and tidy woodpiles and stone walls, the Resiliency Center of Newtown still hums with purpose, six years after the mass shooting that led to its creation.

In rooms well stocked with paint and brushes, toys and musical instruments, young survivors of the Sandy Hook school shooting still engage in art and play and music therapy. And staff members at the center say they are still welcoming new clients, people showing up for the first time to ask for help.

“I tell people, it’s going to bubble up when your brain is ready,” said Jennifer Sokira, a music therapist at the center, which was started with a federal grant to serve people directly affected by the shooting. “As people hit milestones — becoming a teenager, going to college — they may have to process the trauma again."

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