LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Six years after the 1 October tragedy, people impacted by the Route 91 Harvest Festival, as well as other violent crimes, still have a place to find support.
Jackie Harris is the Behavioral Health Program Coordinator at the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center and was on The Strip before the sun came up the morning after the mass shooting. In the last six years, she has worked tirelessly to support the Route 91 community, which extends beyond concert-goers and their families.
"We had 22,000 concert-goers but that doesn't include [first] responders, people working the event, or the people that were just on The Strip, or the Uber drivers, or the bus drivers," Harris said.
Harris holds Zoom support groups for people across the country. The need for support can be delayed for years, or brought up again by other trauma. Through the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center's peer mentor program, people are able to find valuable support on their own timeline.
"If somebody isn't ready to seek out formal professional services, they can talk to somebody who understands because they can say, I was there too and I'm here for you," Harris said.
In talking to other communities impacted by mass shooting events, Vegas Strong Resiliency Center director Tennille Pereira said it's important they're available for the community.
"There are going to be a lot of people that 10, 15, sometimes even 20 years down the road are still going to need assistance. Things can happen in your life and that trauma comes back up," Pereira told Channel 13. "We wanted to ensure that our Route 91 community always had a place to go for support."
"We are here. We are still here. We are going to be here [and] we have amazing services," added Harris.
The Vegas Strong Resiliency recently announced new funding that will insure its existence in the future. You can connect with them via their website.
Pereira highlighted Harris' efforts and expertise in supporting those impacted by 1 October.
"Jackie has done such an amazing job. She's so kind and so patient, but so experienced," Pereira explained. "She just brings this warmth to her and really connects with the staff to help support the impacted community, but really connects with the community."
For these reasons, Jeff Giles of Findlay Automotive Group recognized Jackie Harris as the Vegas Stronger Champion for October 2023.
"We've been told by the people that you work with here at the Resiliency Center [about] all the great work you've been doing and have done since the first day, since 1 October, in helping people heal from this tragedy that the whole city felt," Giles explained. "You're dealing with the people that really were directly impacted, [and] we want to highlight you as our Vegas Stronger Champion and give you this check, as a small token of our appreciation for the good work that you've been doing," he added.
