Families want more say about their futures

Families of the Aurora theater shooting victims held a news conference on Tuesday to address what the believe is too much talk and not enough action to help them. The Giving First Foundation helped raised five million dollars in donations to help survivors and for the families of the 12 who died in the mass shooting.

Tom Teves’ son Alex was killed in the mass shooting. He told reporters, “We thank everyone for giving and are humbled by the generosity of the American public. We’re certain everyone who donated, expected 100 percent to go directly to victims and each family would use that money with their healing process. “

So far, the 70 families have only received five thousand dollars each to help defray mounting medical, burial and just day to day life trauma to deal with a tragedy of this enormity. Teves and the rest of the group want more input into how the donations are handed out.

It is a complicated formula to dole out the money. I spoke with the Community First Foundation that’s handling the collection of the money through an affiliated website. Foundation Rep, Cheryl Haggstrom tells me, “There have been some very formal processes that are in place after a situation like this where advocates are there immediately to assist people in the first stages of something like this. We are learning about this as we go through it, as well.” Haggstrom also said there could very well be more family input in the future about the donation money, “But we are looking at the experts on our committees who work directly with these individuals and we’ll have to decide the approximate time to include them in the process, especially since what they have gone through. She says only 200-thousand of the five million raised has been distributed and shared by ten non-profit organizations.

I also called Governor’s Hickenlooper’s office to get a reaction to the concerns the families have about not enough input in the say of the money that has been raised for them.

His media rep, Eric Brown wrote me this email, “Everyone involved is trying to do the right thing in a very difficult situation. We understand the frustration shared today by victims’ families. That’s why we have been advocating for them to have a greater voice in the process. We have also actively supported the 7/20 Recovery Committee to improve communication and the ongoing distribution of assistance. Families have received money and other services through the great generosity of others. They will receive more. A meeting is scheduled for Friday between families and the 7/20 Recovery Committee. We will continue to listen and do all we can to help ensure families get the support they need.”

We will continue to track the concerns of the families of victims and see how they are addressed and solved.