A 'refuge' for D.C. youth impacted by gun violencera

In the United States, more children die because of guns than car accidents or any other illness or injury. The TraRon Center is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit is providing a service that’s desperately needed now – they are helping young people process the pain and heal from their trauma. “The Tra and Ron is Tracy and Ronnie, my sister Tracy, who was killed in 1993, my brother Ronnie, who was killed in 1996, and combining the first three letters of their name,” said founder Ryane Nickens. “I wanted a space as a memorial for my sister and brother that they would not be forgotten and that their names … would not be tied to how they died, but it would be tied to hope for another generation of people who grew up in the communities we grew up in.” The TraRon Center provides counseling for adults, as well as after-school programs and therapy for children. Art is one tool to help the children process their emotions and communicate their needs. “There are some kids that started off who would have emotional explosions … And now we’re able to get to a point where it’s like, OK, you’re dysregulated, and you’re also able to tell me why you’re dysregulated,” said Mariah Gray, art therapist at the TraRon Center. “To be able to see those children come back to life, to be able to see those kids smile. I think that is the end game, that this space … teaches them how to use their voice, how to speak up for themselves, but also allows for them to be children, allows for them to just laugh, cry, when they need to express themselves in the ways that they need to express themselves, that this space is their refuge,” Nickens said. #mentalhealth #features #fullframecgtn Watch CGTN LIVE on your computer, tablet or mobile https://cgtnamerica.vhx.tv/videos/hd-live-broadcasts Subscribe to CGTN America on YouTube Follow CGTN America: Twitter: @cgtnamerica Facebook: @cgtnamerica Instagram: @cgtnamerica TikTok: @newstoks This material is distributed by MediaLinks TV, LLC on behalf of CCTV. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.