The Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation (Foundation) released today the findings from an anonymous community-wide survey that was released to the public on January 22, 2015 and remained open until February 13, 2015. The survey was disseminated through the Newtown Public Schools, the Town of Newtown, the Newtown Bee, and the internal distribution lists of the Foundation. The survey generated 999 responses.
The survey focused on better understanding the strengths of the community, what has been helpful in the 12/14 recovery, what barriers or challenges remain, and what impact the tragedy continues to have on various segments of the community.
The majority of respondents reported feeling like the community is strong, moving in a positive direction, and that there are opportunities to connect and participate in volunteer activities. There also remains a good deal of stress, anxiety, fear, worry, and anger that is directly related to 12/14. Some respondents who are predominantly outside of Sandy Hook Elementary School have persistent feelings of guilt, reluctance to discuss how the tragedy has impacted them, and lack awareness of services available in the community to assist. This has created, as the data in the report confirms, a level of suffering in silence or guilt by individuals who don’t feel as if they should be struggling or have a right to reach out for help because they weren’t as directly impacted as someone else.