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Counseling center continues supporting MSU community following 2023 campus shooting

Chalk message that reads "Your Community Has Your Back #Spartans"
Sophia Saliby
/
WKAR-MSU

A center that opened to help the community heal following the 2023 shooting on Michigan State University’s campus estimates it’s served around 2,000 people so far.

The United Resiliency Center officially opened its doors in East Lansing in March and offers free therapy and support services.

Jeff Kapuscinski is the Chief External Relations Officer for Common Ground, the organization that runs the center.

He said in addition to the formal services it offers, the center has become a gathering place.

“We get students that show up that just maybe want a quiet place to do homework,” he said.

Although the center is located near MSU’s campus, it’s not just students who stop by.

“We have seen a lot of first responders come into our centers to talk about their experience and how they're dealing with that,” Kapuscinski said.

He said people will continue to feel the impact of the shooting long after the event and that it’s important for the community to have a place where they can talk about it.

The center is funded through federal grants that are made available to communities immediately following mass violence events. But Director of Victim Services Jamie Ayers says healing may take more time.

“The most important thing is to try to educate as many people as we can because the healing process from events like this isn’t a grant period,” she said. “So, it isn’t 27 months or 36 months or however long the program’s open for.”

Ayers says Common Ground hopes to use the next few months to assess whether the community needs more support. If so, the organization would try to fundraise to extend the center’s life beyond September.

Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Melorie Begay is the local producer and host of Morning Edition.
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