VTV ALLIANCE
About Our Alliance
The Victim-to-Victim Alliance began unofficially years ago when families of gun violence began working together to try to keep each other and victims and survivors of other mass shootings on their feet financially and with resources. Then an idea came forth from a father whose daughter was murdered in the VaTech mass shooting. He reached out to a cousin of the deceased from the Aurora theater mass shooting.
They had already been two of the co-founders of the National Compassion Fund, and both knew more was needed for victims and survivors as there was little to no help across the country.
The idea: Create a continuum of care.
He was the head of the VTV Family Outreach Foundation (a 501c) made of the Virginia Tech families and survivors based in VA. She had organized a large network of mass shooting families across the country which became VictimsFirst, based in CA. After singer/songwriter Christina Grimmie was murdered in Orlando after her concert in 2016, their family began a foundation in her name in CA with a similar goal: to keep victims of gun violence on their feet.
As VTV and VictimsFirst created their own resource network and looked for partners, they sat down with the Christina Grimmie Foundation in CA with the late singer’s father and brother who were also creating their own network.
Because of the intensity of the work they all do, everything was tabled – until after the rash of mass shootings in Sacramento, Buffalo, Uvalde, and Highland Park in 2022.
With the sheer number of victims and survivors pleading for help, VictimsFirst called the Christina Grimmie Foundation to see if they would help. They often tag-teamed to make sure that no victim would be left behind.
The Grimmie's then brought up the idea of a coalition again.
We knew that we were stronger together. So, we met again. By this time, we had all developed different networks and resources that complemented each other – and the next generation of gun violence/mass shooting victims was emerging to help - from Orlando, Parkland, Vegas, etc.
We agreed that there was a need for a centralized resource – one website – where gun violence victims could go to find real help.
The Victim-to-Victim Alliance was born.
VTVCare
VTVCare is a non-profit movement. Our sole purpose is to help fund the long-term physical and psychological trauma-related care needs of mass shooting survivors nationwide. We are the parents, siblings, students, children, classmates, and spouses of those killed in the Virginia Tech mass school shootings on April 16, 2007.
Our mission is to assist mass shooting survivors with their long-term (3 years post-incident) physical and psychological trauma-related expenses. Mass shootings gravely impact our society by physically and psychologically traumatizing people and imposing substantial unforeseen financial burdens on individuals. Our Objective is to assist with these unforeseen financial needs. We provide financial assistance to mass shooting survivors 3 years after an incident while also offering a lifelong network of support and resources to help survivors heal, recover, and reclaim their lives.
The Christina Grimmie Foundation
The Christina Grimmie Foundation is committed to supporting families and individuals affected by the devastating effects of gun violence so that they can focus on rebuilding their lives. Our mission is to honor the victims and support their families by offering immediate financial and emotional support while creating a community of empathy and care. We believe this provides a true pathway to hope.
The Christina Grimmie Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization EIN 81-5119219.
VictimsFirst
VictimsFirst is a network of surviving victims of mass casualty crime and trusted supporters who have first-hand experiences of the problems and re-victimization that accompany these acts when there is a lack of coordinated effort and/or understanding of what survivors need. In 2021, we officially applied to become a 501(c)(3) to better serve victims of mass casualty crimes. The mission of VictimsFirst is to support, empower, and protect victims of mass casualty crime through rapid response, financial assistance, community preparedness education, as well as care support and advocacy for policies that help all victims/survivors.
