Mercury News: New South Bay center in Gilroy offers universal service to victims of violent crimes

After the horrific Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting in 2019, community and county leaders opened a support center in the city to help those victims struggling to cope with the tragedy. But it soon became apparent to many that victims of all violent crimes needed help.

So the seeds for Mariposas Resiliency Center were planted, and this week bore fruit to much fanfare, as it became the first center of its kind in Santa Clara County.

“I hope that with the expansion of services, with more days like today, we can normalize coming for help because there’s still such a stigma around it,” said Melissa Santos, senior director of Strategy and Community Development at Community Solutions, which provides much of the mental health services for the Mariposas Center. “People deserve a place for healing.”

To celebrate the grand opening, the center featured art from students around the county and music from Gilroy’s Brownwell Middle School Choir, with several local leaders and police representatives attending the event, including Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeffrey Rosen and Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley.