'More people need to be aware of it.' Crime survivors spread awareness about compensation program
AUSTIN (KXAN) – In East Austin, crime survivors gathered to tell their stories, or those of their loved ones, in order to bring awareness to the Texas' Crime Victim Compensation Program (CVC) on Thursday.
The CVC is a financial support program that helps pay for medical bills, lost earnings, therapy, relocation, funerals for crime victims or dependents of victims.
Asward Thomas was one of those at the event. Thomas is a gun violence victim himself, shot in back.
"The one thing that I remember is fleeing those individuals and waking up not being able to feel my legs," Thomas said. "Two gunshot wounds were inch away from my spinal cord."
Jill Henderson has dealt with trauma of losing her son. Bakari Henderson, was killed at a night club while on a trip in Greece.
"He was a recent graduate of the University of Arizona, went to Greece in order to start a clothes line, which was his passion and his dream, and unfortunately, was murdered," Henderson said.
According to national poll conducted by the Alliance for Safety and Justice, 96% of victims of violent crime did not receive victim compensation to help aid their recovery.
Thomas says he didn't know about the CVC during the initial periods of his recovery process.
“I would have loved to get, you know, access to counseling and therapy to help me deal with the panic attacks, the nightmare, the anxiety, the PTSD that I still live with today,” Thomas said.
Requirements to be eligible for CVC as victim or claimant include:
- The crime happened in Texas to a U.S. resident (or the victim is a Texas resident and the crime happened in a country without victim compensation).
- You're applying within 3 years of the crime (unless good cause can be shown for the delay).
To read more about eligibility, click here.
"In a perfect world that we prevent all crime from happening, but I believe that if we can't prevent all crime from happening, the least we can do is make sure that every victim get access to support and healing that they need," Thomas said.