Danielle Parent, director of the Maine Resiliency Center, testifies in favor of LD 1425 before the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday in Augusta. The MRC has served more than 600 people since opening in the wake of the Lewiston mass shooting, but it needs additional funding — which LD 1425 would provide — to continue its work. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

AUGUSTA — A year and a half after Maine’s deadliest mass shooting, survivors of the tragedy in Lewiston and mental health workers told state lawmakers Wednesday that many people are still in the process of healing and need continued support services.

The Maine Resiliency Center in Lewiston opened in the aftermath of the October 2023 mass shooting and has provided individual and group support and resources for survivors, witnesses, family and friends of victims, and first responders.

The center has served more than 600 people since opening but needs additional funding to continue its work. A bill introduced by Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, would provide $3.4 million over the next two years to continue and expand services at the center.

“The MRC … fills our systems’ significant gaps, offering support for people who would otherwise fall through the cracks,” Rotundo said during a public hearing Wednesday.

Several people who witnessed the Lewiston shooting or lost loved ones in the tragedy testified in support of the bill during an emotional public hearing before the Health and Human Services Committee. No one testified against the proposal.

At one point, the committee called for a brief recess after hearing the testimony of a woman who wiped away tears as she talked about how she and her children had to run from gunman Robert Card at the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley the night of the shooting.

Card killed 18 people and injured 13 others at Just-In-Time and Schemengees Bar & Grille.

Another witness, Danielle Chabot, told the committee how she and her husband were also at the bowling alley that night, and how the center continues to help her recover from the trauma.

Lewiston mass shooting survivor Danielle Chabot, left, testifies in favor of LD 1425 on Wednesday in Augusta. Chabot, who was in the bowling alley during the 2023 Lewiston mass shooting, said the Maine Resiliency Center in Lewiston has helped her and other survivors of the deadly shooting. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

“Some of the survivors are back bowling or playing cornhole,” Chabot said after apologizing to the committee for her shaking voice. “But every single one of us still struggles. … Something triggers us, and we are right back there, reliving every harrowing second of that evening.”

Chabot said the center has made it possible for her to resume normal activities like going to the grocery store or out to a restaurant. “I’ve done therapy on my own regarding this tragedy weekly since two days after the shooting. … But the group meetings for the survivors that were held weekly at the resiliency center have helped me more than I can even tell you,” Chabot said.

Kathleen Walker, who lost her husband, Jason Walker, and his friend Michael Deslauriers, said some people impacted by the tragedy are only now “coming out from the fog of grief and trauma” and need support.

A recent event at the center for first responders drew 200 attendees, Walker said in written testimony filed before Wednesday’s hearing.

“This is a strong testament that THIS ISN’T OVER,” Walker wrote. “We still need the MRC, they still have a role, they need to continue.”

CONTINUING THE HEALING PROCESS

The center offers a unique model by providing free services and a low barrier to entry, Rotundo said. She said the center “meets people where they are” and doesn’t require a professional diagnosis in order for someone to receive services.

The National Center for PTSD estimates that 28% of people who have witnessed a mass shooting develop post-traumatic stress disorder. Research also suggests that mass shooting survivors may be at greater risk for mental health difficulties compared with people who experience other types of trauma, such as natural disasters, according to the American Psychological Association.

Long-term outcomes can be improved with community support and access to mental health care, the association has said.

The center was expected to be funded with federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Victims of Crime that would keep it open through January 2026. However, the grant funding is still pending, the center’s director, Danielle Parent, told the committee Wednesday.

She said the center has been operating using cash advances from the city of Lewiston and the Office of the Maine Attorney General that were expected to be reimbursed with the federal funds, as well as philanthropic funds. And the uncertainty around the federal funding has made the need for state funds more urgent as the center hopes to be able to continue and expand its work, Parent said.

In recent months, she said the center has been approached about providing services for people who were not impacted by the Lewiston shooting but who are facing other traumas from gun violence or the sudden loss of loved ones. She hopes the center will be able to say yes to those requests with state funding to keep it running.

“This bill ensures that healing continues — for those impacted by 10/25 and anyone in Maine who experiences profound trauma,” Parent said.

Health and Human Services Committee co-chair Rep. Michele Meyer, D-Eliot, listens during a hearing Wednesday in Augusta about funding for the Maine Resiliency Center in Lewiston. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office confirmed Wednesday that a grant application has been submitted but said the office has not received word on when the federal funding might become available.

Rotundo’s bill, LD 1425, has bipartisan support from Democratic and Republican co-sponsors, indicating it may also get broad support when it comes up for votes. But the $3.4 million price tag means it will have to compete with other initiatives for a limited amount of funds at the end of the legislative session.

Rotundo, who also co-chairs the Legislature’s budget committee, said it’s too early to know how much money will be left to divvy up among various bills as lawmakers are still working through the latest budget proposal.

SUPPORT FROM GOV. MILLS

A spokesperson for Gov. Janet Mills said that, while it wasn’t in the governor’s proposed budget, she supports the center.

“The governor has admired the important work of the resiliency center since the tragedy in Lewiston in October 2023,” Ben Goodman said in an email. “With Maine facing a tight fiscal environment, additional funding for the resiliency center was not part of the governor’s biennial budget proposal, but the governor looks forward to working with Republican and Democrats in the Legislature on this and other important budgetary matters in the coming weeks.”

Regina Schulman, a counselor and therapist who has been running support groups at the center since January 2024, said in written testimony that when she began her work many of the people participating in the groups were facing debilitating fear, anxiety and survivor’s guilt.

They experienced triggers when driving past the bowling alley or a Subway restaurant where several of them fled to hide the night of the shooting. Some were not able to wear or throw away clothing they had worn that night. Others were stressed by loud noises.

“After hearing from others with a shared traumatic experience, guests realized they were not alone and not crazy,” Schulman wrote. “They were grateful to know that they were experiencing a normal response to an acute trauma.”

Over the last year and a half, visitors to the center have begun reporting feeling less anxious, though triggers are still surfacing, Schulman wrote.

“It is vitally important for these services to continue, and for the MRC to continue serving even more people impacted by trauma in the future,” she said.