WINDER, Ga. — Sara Schneider knows more about grieving the loss of a child than any mother should.
Her son Bowen Walker died at just 12 days old. The heartbreak will never go away for her or her surviving children.
"They are grieving as well, and it's something that they're going to carry with them, that they're not going to forget," she said. "They deserve every single piece of respect and love and care."
She couldn't find any resources to help her children work through the loss of a sibling, so she decided to create her own. The Bowen Walker Foundation launched earlier this year in Winder.
"You can't fix this. You'll never be able to fix this, but we can help," she said. "Grief and bereavement is so complex... especially (for) kids going from a childlike sense of wonder and innocence to all of a sudden, having this complex feeling and emotion that we are not even prepared to deal with as adults."
Her foundation helps children across the country. Unfortunately, a tragic shooting at Apalachee High School that killed four and wounded nine created the biggest need right here at home.
"It hurts my heart. It really hurts my heart," she said. "I'm a mom. I have kids in the school system. It sucks."
It hurt to see trauma and tragedy in her own backyard. And now it's painful to hear the challenges students are now facing.
"Sirens still trigger — police sirens, ambulances, emergency vehicles," 15-year-old Armando Martinez said. "It's not even just sounds or loud noises, but environmental memories too. Being in a dark room, I'm back in that room where the lights are off, and we're huddled together."
Sara and Armando met at Apalachee High School on the day of the shooting. After a few days of processing his emotions, he began volunteering with her organization.
"We can say we're OK every day the week, but doesn't mean we actually are," he said, adding that the ROTC program at Apalachee taught him to be a leader. "I need to be strong for those who can't. I need to be there for those for who can't be for themselves."
For the past week, Armando has helped Sara support the families of the Apalachee victims so they can focus on their grief.
"I'm getting therapy appointments set up for not only the victims' families but also for some of the witnesses that were in the classroom, some of the survivors," Sara said. "We are helping coordinate travel for some family members who live not only out of state but also out of country."
They've also helped with groceries, meals, freezers, accommodations — anything these families could need.
"We're helping with financials for the family, for the parents, so that they don't have to worry about, how am I going to pay my rent? How am I going to keep the lights on? How am I going to go back to work and leave my child, who is afraid to leave the house?" she said. "These families deserve to grieve and to grieve well. They shouldn't have to be worrying about all of these other things right now."
Sara has partnered with local therapists who specialize in childhood trauma and PTSD to help these families. However, it often costs $1,500 or more for one child to get the sessions they need.
"Realistically, businesses cannot give everything free forever, and I understand that, and everyone else understands that," she said. "Donations right now are huge."
She said gift cards to grocery stores and restaurants are also helpful.
"After the loss of my son, the idea of sitting down and cooking a meal was just not something that I could even begin to think about," Sara said. "We can stand in the gap to make things that are hard a little less hard."
While some organizations offer temporary support, she said she doesn't ever plan on leaving.
"This is my home. I'm here. I live here," she said. "I'm not going anywhere. For these families, for these kids, for this community — I'm here.