CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. _ This is Parkland's heartbreak more than a year later: A student in pain, haunted by the loss of two friends. A parent in pain, tormented by extreme anxiety. A teacher in pain, plagued by sleepless nights and waves of panic.
All three are finding help and hope at Eagles' Haven, a warm and welcoming healing center that opened in March to give all those affected by last year's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High a place to gather and just be.
On Feb. 14, 2018, a former student walked onto the Stoneman Douglas campus and shot 34 students and staff, leaving 17 dead.
The shock of the shooting _ the gunfire, the screams and the terrifying escape from a school that will never be the same _ has worn off. But for many, the scars remain.
After the shooting, an army of therapists descended on Parkland to help students, parents and teachers cope with the trauma. School officials hired an extra 60 mental health experts to help students and quickly opened a resiliency center at Pine Trails Park to offer crisis and grief counseling. The center stayed open for more than a year until it closed on April 1, a week after Eagles' Haven opened.
The new center, staffed by mental health counselors, offers comfort and relief to those who show up.
The Children's Services Council of Broward County funds the center, which costs nearly $1 million a year in taxpayer money to run. And JAFCO manages day-to-day operations. The Sunrise nonprofit, also known as Jewish Adoption and Foster Care Options, serves abused, neglected and disabled children.
"The point was to create a place that's a safe haven so you can go and feel supported," said Cindy Arenberg Seltzer, president and CEO of the Children's Services Council. "There's many different ways of dealing with trauma, different ways to reach different people."
Eagles' Haven offers a potpourri of wellness classes and support groups designed to help alleviate feelings of trauma and move participants toward a path of healing, Seltzer said.
Eagles' Haven is not a therapy center, say those who run it.
Instead, it's more of a sanctuary where people still recovering from the tragedy can try out all kinds of classes seven days a week _ all for free. The menu of classes includes kickboxing, drumming circles, power yoga, graffiti art, tai chi, healthy cooking classes, acupuncture and meditation.
And if someone feels like talking to a counselor, they can do that too, said Sarah Franco, JAFCO's executive director.
So far, more than 800 visitors have gone to Eagles' Haven, located in a busy Coral Springs shopping center at 5655 Coral Ridge Drive. And at least 100 families have gotten referrals to traditional therapists with their own offices.
But officials are hoping more people in need will turn to Eagles' Haven for help, Seltzer said.
"We are happy people are coming," she said. "But there are so many more people we want to reach."
The one-stop wellness center swung into gear one month early after the suicides of two students who survived the Parkland shooting.
Eagles' Haven aims to serve the entire Stoneman Douglas community: current, future and former students; parents and family members; teachers and faculty.
In the lobby, visitors can sink into a comfy couch, sip coffee and have their pick of free snacks.
Each room has a wall dedicated to calming scenes of forests or mountains or clouds with uplifting messages: "The journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step." "The best views come after the hardest climb." "Once you choose hope, anything is possible."
