After Pulse: Michael Farmer

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Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse nightclub massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content.

Michael Farmer work up on June 12, 2016 to a group text message from the CEO of Equality Florida to make sure everyone was alright. The only detail in the text was that there was a shooting. When he got on social media the first thing to pop up on his news feed was live footage from a local news outlet of the scene outside of Pulse Nightclub. The first people in the frame were a friend J.P. Cortez and Drew Leinonen‘s mother. That is when the seriousness of the situation sank in.

Michael was in Sarasota at the time and immediately drove back to Orlando. Back in Orlando Sunday morning he had a conference call with Equality Florida staff. Not everyone got on the call, some were still sleeping. They debriefed and then they started thinking through what roll they could play moving forward to help. They aren’t a direct service agency so they set about to start fundraising. They started a go-fund-me campaign too try and raise $100,000. In the first day they raised over a million dollars. Ultimately 9.5 million dollars was raised. The fundraiser was linked to the email of one of the staff members and she needed to answer all of the questions. The LGBT community was familiar with their work but others were not aware of the organization. There was a lot of scrutiny. The Better Business Borough had to vet them.

They started becoming a clearing house for offerings from people, like someone called and offered bulk burial plots at a Methodist Cemetery. They needed to catalogue all that was being offered and connect with the people that needed it.

They partnered with the National Compassion Fund very early. They helped as the scope grew. The National Compassion Fund responds to the awful tragedies that keep happening in America, they set up fund for each of them. They insure that the victims get all of the money without administrative costs.

He and Ida Eskamani then drove to Jacksonville, because they had a sponsorship event scheduled at 4pm. Despite the chaos they felt a need to stick to the schedule. Once they got there he immediately realized it was a mistake. It was just a two hour event. But it turned into an incredibly emotional event.

There clearly was going to be a large vigil, and there were concerns about safety. The original plan was to hold the vigil at Lake Eola. The Mayor and Police Department didn’t feel that was a safe option. It was becoming a run away train. Equality Florida called the Mayor and tried to get in front of it. That is how the Dr. Phillips Center Vigil came into being. No one could have imagined to many people would show up to that vigil. All this happened in the first 48 hours.

After Pulse: Father Miguel Gonzolez

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Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse nightclub massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content.

Father Miguel Gonzalez, is the director at Saint James Cathedral in Orlando, Florida. After the Pulse Nightclub massacre Catholic priests, deacons and bishops provided pastoral care and leadership to the Hispanic community and the larger community of Central Florida.

When he heard the news, he was dumbfounded and in shock. New York City might be a target, Columbine in Colorado, but Orlando doesn’t seem like a likely target. Disney might one day be a target, but not Orange Avenue in SODO, Orlando. It was baffling.

The night before there was the murder of the young performer, Christina Grimmie, at the Plaza in Orlando. Father Miguel was a Radio D.J. before priesthood, so that senseless murder hit him particularly hard. He was still dealing with that when Pulse happened.

He had written Christina into his homily that weekend, so now Pulse became another overwhelming component. The driving theme remained, which was, how the power of love transforms. How can the community renounce these acts? How do we raise our families in a loving caring environment? This person was clearly mentally disturbed. How can proper care be provided to keep things like this from happening again.

Between masses he got a phone call from the Holy Family parish in Windermere, asking if he could come to the hotel where families were gathered. They needed bilingual priests, pastors, counselors and social workers. Some of these families were flying in from Puerto Rico. He headed over after the Spanish mass at 12:30pm.

There was a lot of chaos in that hotel. There were also a lot of good people ready to support and help.  Their focus was on the victims and relatives who were hurt by this. He ended up on the 3rd floor, with other ministers from different organizations, families would be brought up and into different rooms where they would break the news from the coroner’s office that the body of their loved one was identified.

You could her the screaming and wailing down the hallway. It was painful to listen to. Prayer was his life preserver to keep focus and keep calm. To pray for them. When the doors opened someone would come into the hall and ask, is anyone her for the Baptist denomination? Then that Baptist minister would enter the room. Or they would ask, is there a priest her, then father Miguel would go into the room.

There was a change of plans and everyone gathered in a big room downstairs. The lobby was jam packed. The media was all over the place outside. The hotel wanted to regain some level of normalcy. Miguel was told to prepare for havoc. Because there were so many people jammed into the lobby, he could not hear what was happening, or how the news broke. Comments trickled through the crowd. The message that made it back to him was that they were going to give the names of families who should report to the hospital. The hope then is that their love one is still alive. The move increased hope.

After the names were read, there were still a lot of families crowded together. They were all told the had to come back the next day. That is when chaos erupted. People wanted to go to Pulse. They wanted to go to their loved one. Where were they? Screaming echoed down the commodores. People grabbed their heads, they held one another and cried and then ran out the front doors of the lobby.

He moved to a side door near the back. They wanted to meet the families out front by walking around through the parking lot. Outside the wall of reporters were waiting, focusing on the mayhem. He mingled among the families, ready to respond and embrace. He needed to be present for the families.

One young man was very upset, frustrated and angry. He saw the collar and he was angry at the god that Miguel served. Where is he? How could he allow this to happen? He vented about this God who does not care. What could be said to not aggravate the situation? He told him about a brutal murder a family member in Puerto Rico to let him know that he at least understood in some the way the pain felt. Some common ground was found. They sat together and the young man brought over his family.

The next day Miguel went to the Senior Center. Families gathered, and slowly families went to the second floor where the news was conveyed. By then families knew that their loved one did not make it, but there was the agony of waiting. He knew a couple of the families. He prayed with them and talked to them.

His parish was opened up as a space for Catholic charities and social workers. In 20 years of priesthood this was the most challenging, and difficult event he ever had to deal with to provide healing hope and care. The healing for survivors would not happen over night. How could life return to normal?

 

After Pulse: Nichole Elinoff

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Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse nightclub massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content.

Nichole Elinoff is the sexual minority coordinator at the Florida Department of Health, working in HIV prevention within the GLBT community. At the time of the Pulse Nightclub massacre she served at the GLBT Center as director of clinical services.

The entire state of Florida does not have sex education. Each county handles the subject differently. Central Florida, is 6th in the country for HIV infections. Florida as a whole is number 1 in the country for new HIV cases. All of the top 10 highest HIV infection rates are from counties in the the south. Miami Dade, Florida is Number 1 and Baton Rouge, Louisiana is number 2.

Nichole was in South Florida when the Pulse Nightclub shooting happened. Sunday morning June 16, 2016 at 8am she got a call from the board president of the Center. Since she was asleep, she didn’t immediately pick up. She kept getting calls and texts. The first text she read was “are you OK?” Someone else knew she was in South Florida and said she was safe. On Facebook she saw the black Pulse logo and the rainbow.  She couldn’t believe what she was reading. She called the Center and made arrangements to get back to Orlando.

She drove back to Orlando that day in record time. She went to the Center for the press conference. Her husband brought donuts. The Center was packed with board members, community members. She hugged everyone. The mental health counseling effort was already being coordinated. The HIV testing program had to be shut down that week since there was so much going on.

A dear friend was the lead HIV test counselor that she worked with at the center. She was trying to call him constantly throughout that day. The week before he had been at Latin night at Pulse. She couldn’t reach him.  He finally called back while she was at the Center and she broke down and cried. He wasn’t at Pulse on the night of the massacre.

Monday morning she helped coordinate the media response. She updated the Facebook pages. She looked at the Go Fund Me that the Center created and helped maintain that site. She coordinated her staff of volunteers to bring water to the blood donation sites. Lines of people were standing in the sun and they needed water.

When the Orlando United Assistance Center opened at Camping World Stadium,  she set up a table with two other staff members. They interacted with the families of victims and survivors. They found out what their needs were and they passed out gift cards. She brought gift cards and supplies to her team.

Testing returned to the Center after that first week. It was a challenging couple of months after Pulse. One of her staff decided he needed to go into victim advocacy. He was hired at the Orlando Assistance Center. After he left she needed to do his job as lead tester, as well as her own until she could find someone to fill his position. She organized some training with the Red Cross for her volunteer staff to talk about dealing with grief, and how to look for trauma.

People they were testing mentioned that they were taking more chances like sex without condoms, more drinking and more substance use because they may have lost friends or someone they knew. They were trying to cope. After a tragedy people tend to take more chances. They want to feel safe and unprotected sex can become a problem.

There was no HIV support group for Spanish speakers so she wrote a grant to help get one started.

After Pulse: Macy’s Response

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Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse nightclub massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content.

Macy’s was involved in a variety of ways after the Pulse Nightclub shooting on June 12 2016.

Lee O’Rourke who is the district vice president for Macy’s in North Florida found out through an individual who works for the Metropolitan Business Association, which is an LGBT chamber, that Macy’s was not involved with the Orlando Come Out with Pride Parade. Macy’s is involved in Pride parades across the country so it made sense to become involved in Orlando. Starting in 2009 Macy’s became a participating sponsor.

Kevin Tweed is the district director of visual merchandising and he became involved in creating visuals for Pride. Since June 12, the company has become even more involved with the LGBT community. Macy’s does give back to the community, it is one of their core values.  $25,000 was donated to Gay Pride.

Gay days happened the weekend before the Pulse Nightclub shooting. Macy’s had been at the many events at hotels and theme parks. It was an amazing fun week leading up to June 12. From the high of that week they were hit like a freight train with the massacre.

Lee woke up about 5:30am and turned on the news. The Pulse shooting dominated the news. The count at that time was about 10. She immediately texted Kevin. He will never forget that text he got at 7:08am, it changed everything. They started texting back and forth wondering what to do. Then they wondered if somebody they knew might be there. After the initial shock they went into battle mode and started calling and texting to find out if everyone was OK.

That first day was an emotional roller coaster. A Macy’s manager was at Pulse that night and left at 11:20pm and saw another staff member enter as he left. They could not find this one person for most of the first day.

At first there is shock and then the need to get busy and do something. On Monday morning Kevin started calling food banks and blood banks and the local centers to see if there was anything that Macy’s could do to help out. The company immediately started doing matching funds.

Lee got permission from the company to do whatever they needed to do. A volunteer at the Center reached out and explained that a victim did not live in Orlando, so they did not have any proper outfit to bury him in. His family arrived from Puerto Rico with no notice and had nothing with them, so Macy’s arranged for a personal shopper to dress them prior to the funeral.

The ubiquitous Macy’s blue tee shirts could be seen at the vigils and events all of that first week as staff handed out water and fans to anyone who wanted them.

After Pulse: Bishop Noonan

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Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse nightclub massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content.

Bishop Noonan is the Catholic Bishop of the Orlando Diocese. The day before the Pulse Nightclub massacre he was on a trip to Los Angeles for a meeting. When he arrived he saw what had happened back in Orlando and he realized he had to get back. He got back to Orlando on Monday morning June 17, 2016.

Once a year priests gather in September right after Labor Day. A priest came from Connecticut who is a native of Florida and he was the priest at Sandy Hook. He spoke about his experiences at Sandy Hook. It was frightening. He said that when a crisis happens you have to deal with the people who are suffering and hurting, and the public. He spoke about the families. He needed to take care of the families. He said the president had to come, the governor had to come it was like re-victimizing people over and over again. The public display of support and grief has to come right away.

When Bishop Noonan got back to Orlando on Monday night the cathedral was opened for prayer and solidarity. Then individual families needed assistance. A number of the Pulse victims were catholic. Arrangements had to be made for funerals for the next 10 to 12 days. The press wanted to invade the privacy and mourning of families. Four or five priests went to the Marriot hotel where families had gathered to find out what had happened to their loved ones.

Bishop Noonan spoke at the vigil on Monday night. Growing up in Ireland he realized that hatred breeds violence. Families wanted answers about where they needed to go and what they needed to do. When you loose a son or daughter there are no feelings, you are just numb. The answer is in the scriptures. Christ suffered an died for us that we might have life eternal. The only way to console someone is through faith and trust in god.

He had never had to experience what it was like to hold funerals for victims of a mass shooting. Pulse was diverse, there were 4 or 5 parishes who were involved. Families didn’t know what to do. Some didn’t want any publicity. They didn’t want anyone to know. Some families came from overseas. Some families discovered their son or daughter was gay and they didn’t want to claim the body.  If bodies had to be flown back home that had to be set up. Families grief needed to be addressed. They were not able to deal with all the logistics.

Trying to keep the press away from the families was a challenge. Families wanted peace and calm. People are still hurting.

Phantasmagoria presents: A Christmas Carol & The Canterville Ghost

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If you are looking to kick off the Holiday season with a taste for the macabre, then join Phantasmagoria as they present  “Ghost Stories” this Christmas season. They will bring to life and the bitter sweet taste of death to not one but TWO whimsical classics. The well-loved A Christmas Carol, A Ghost Story of Christmas by Charles Dickens, followed by Oscar Wilde’s rollicking The Canterville Ghost.

I sat in on a dress rehearsal for the show at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The set felt like an abandoned attic with carousel horses flanking the stage. Projections on a large screen behind the set changed the settings with ease. I fell in love with the faint flickering candle light that illuminated the various corners of the stage.  That meant I needed to keep the scene dark so the candles could shine.

A Christmas Carol is a well loved and very familiar classic. Phantasmagoria added its dark and vaudevillian steampunk styled flair to the story. John DiDonna as Scrooge lived in the old man’s skin. I have seen him perform this roll many times over the years. Daniel Cooksley as Marley, draped in chains did an amazing job filling the stage with his his twisted and agonized self. Of the three ghosts, the ghost of Christmas future was magnificently designed. Much larger that life, the dark draped figure gestured with gnarly black branches for hands.

The Canterville Ghost offered a much lighter tale full of light hearted dance. It was the yin to Dickens dark and foreboding Yang. There are two more performances December 3–4, 2022 at the Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater, in the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 8 p.m. and 2 p.m. Tickets are about $35.

After Pulse: Candice Crawford

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Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse nightclub massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content.

Candice Crawford is the CEO of the Mental Health Association of Central Florida. She is a member of the board of the Plaza Live as well. The night before there was a shooting of singer Christina Grimmie at the Plaza Live. The board came to this board room to try and deal with the repercussions of that tragedy. They were pretty shaken up about it. That board meeting happened all afternoon on the Saturday before the Pulse massacre. An 8am conference call was scheduled for 8AM Sunday morning 12 June 2016.

She got up just before 8AM and got a cup of coffee. When the conference call began the conversation was about the mass shooting. At first she thought the mass shooting might have happened at the Plaza, but no, they were talking about the Pulse Nightclub. What in the world is happening?  It was quite the weekend. She called several members of her staff after the conference call ended. They needed to have someone at the Mental Health Association to answer the phones. Phone call could be forwarded to one of the staff members in case anyone called looking for help. There were lots of calls.

The next day they needed several counselors in the offices. On the first day one person came in and the next day 4 or 5 came in. She decided that a Pulse directed counseling program would be needed. She realized there would be a lot of young people at that club who did not have insurance and they would need counseling. Fundraising began to get the program up and running.

Orlando United Assistance Center (OUAC) gave referrals and others sough help on their own. Everyone who has sought help has gotten help. At the time of the interview 118 people had participated in the counseling program. Confidentiality was of the utmost importance.

Crealde 5 minute pandemic sketches

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At Crealde School of Art for one of my Urban Sketching Classes I pose for the students and then students pose in turn for 5 minutes each. My quick sketches serve as demo to show how to get the figure on the page and start to think about the environment around the student pose. In this sketch one figure is isolated and the second sketch I added a student sketching in the foreground and a background with a hint of a table and windows. This is a rare case where I didn’t throw some watercolors washes on the sketch. I also never touched a pen and only worked in pencil which is how many beginning students work since they fear they may have to erase mistakes. In the short duration of 5 minutes there is never time to erase.

Edwina Andrews

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Dr. Edwana Andrews is the director of Social Justice and Advocacy at the University of Central Florida. Early in life she realized that not everyone appreciates or accepts or values individuals who identify in the LGBTQ Community. The church that a friend grew up in was not inclined to host a funeral when he died. She had been taught that you should love your neighbor. Why would the church not allow the funeral?

This became the catalyst for her to do her doctorate and dissertation on the gay, lesbian and bisexual experience in the black church. She interviewed individuals who had a religious experience in a black church. She defined a religious experience as the person attending church at least twice a month. None of the individuals she interviewed continue to attend the black church. None of them identify as religious, but they do identify as spiritual. They experienced a lot of hurt and homo negativity in the black church.

While in their parents roof, they had to attend church. When they went to college, they took that opportunity to take a step back from the church and re-evaluate to find perspective as they tried to rationalize their own sexual identity.

She interviewed individuals from Florida, Texas, Atlanta Philadelphia, and California there were no geographic restrictions.

The oral history was cut short by a fire alarm. The line work was finished in the 30 minutes we had, and I added a few washes afterwards from memory.

After Pulse: Joe Saunders

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Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse nightclub massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content.

Joe Saunders is a former State Representative and a senior political director at Equality Florida and formerly staff at the Human Rights Campaign. He is an Orlando LGBT activist. Pulse opened while Joe was a student at UCF. The club anchored it’s outreach around college students. His roommate became a bartender at Pulse. His first apartment was just a few blocks from Pulse.

Joe was in North Carolina doing political response work. He had worked crazy hours like 15 hours a day. At 2AM his phone lit up with a text chat thread from a group of friends in Orlando. He was till working at 2AM. People were saying something is happening at Pulse. One friend was in an apartment within view of the club.  He kept hearing bangs which could be multiple gun shots.

The text thread search began, who was out and where they safe. After waking the next morning by 10AM he had to return home to Orlando. After a quick plane flight be got to the gay and lesbian center for a press conference held there. The Center is not a huge space. A huge bouncer was a the door directing people. The windows had fogged up. You had to carve your way through all the reporters and cameras that were packed into the room. The space was full to capacity. Equality Florida announced at the press conference that they wanted to do a vigil at Lake Eola.

Plans began for the vigil began right away. The city of Orlando was concerned about security. Could a copycat shooter show up at the vigil? The city ultimately decided the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts would be a safer option and easier for police to defend. Police snipers were on the roof of the Methodist Church and City hall just in case anything went down. Joe was the MC for the vigil. The vigil became one of the most important visual moments of the Orlando community response to Pulse and it came together in 6 hours.