Free Crime Survivor Peer Support — New Orleans | Silence Is Violence

Silence Is Violence is a New Orleans nonprofit that has spent nearly two decades walking alongside people living through the aftermath of violent crime. Founded in 2007 out of a community march on City Hall, the organization exists because no public agency in New Orleans carries the mandate to care for survivors, prevent secondary trauma, or help a grieving family stay intact. Through its Victim Allies Project, Silence Is Violence provides free grief and trauma support, victim advocacy, case management, and crisis intervention to residents of Orleans and Jefferson parishes.

What to Expect

Support gatherings are held on an ongoing basis and are facilitated by staff trained in trauma-informed care, including social workers who have responded at crime scenes alongside the families they serve. Meetings are conversational rather than clinical. People talk about the person they lost, the parts of grief nobody warned them about, and the very practical weight of court dates, funeral costs, and children who are struggling. Alongside the group, staff help members navigate the Orleans and Jefferson Parish criminal justice systems and connect to safe housing and financial advocacy. Current meeting days and times are confirmed at intake — call the organization directly to get on the schedule.

Who This Group Is For

This support is for survivors of violent crime and for the family members of people who were killed. Silence Is Violence primarily serves families affected by homicide, but staff are trained to support survivors of any violent crime, including domestic violence and sexual assault. The organization deliberately serves New Orleanians who are most excluded from formal systems: in a recent year, 98 percent of clients were people of color, 79 percent were under 30, and nearly half had no income at all. There is no cost and no insurance requirement.

Why Peer Support Works

Traumatic loss is isolating in a specific way. Friends who mean well often stop asking after a few weeks, and the systems a family has to deal with afterward — police, courts, victim compensation paperwork — rarely leave room for the grief underneath. Sitting with other people who have survived the same thing removes the burden of explanation. Silence Is Violence has identified three conditions survivors need in order to keep their lives together: a sense of agency, access to care, and guidance through the grief and healing process. A group setting delivers all three at once, and it does so from people who have lived it rather than only read about it.

How to Join

All Victim Allies Project services are free to victims and victim-survivors. To schedule an intake or ask about the current group schedule, call Silence Is Violence at (504) 282-0607 or use the Get Help page at silenceisviolence.org. Staff will walk you through what to expect before your first meeting.