CLEVELAND — Brenda Glass has made it her mission to give back, pouring everything she has into her work as founder and CEO of the trauma recovery center that bears her name. For years, Glass has worked with community members, some at-risk, and some victims of violence, all of whom have needed support and guidance through challenging times.
Through her Brenda Glass Multipurpose Trauma Center in Cleveland, she works with individuals and families who have been impacted by violence of any kind, including domestic violence, gun violence or gang-related violence, among other difficulties.
“The idea of a trauma recovery center is to have a holistic approach to healing for individuals who experience violent crimes,” Glass said. “Oftentimes it's in the people of color communities, and so we kind of target that population, but we help all people.”
Glass aims to provide hope and healing to those she works with, working quite literally 24 hours, seven days a week, to physically go to and pick up those who need her services and take them to a confidential location.
“Our goal is to provide safe shelter, which is the main thing that a person needs after they experience violence,” she said. “And during the course of screening them for that, we look for other practical needs they may have.”
Those other needs may include emergency clothing or food, or baby supplies. Glass also helps with relocation assistance, provides mental health services, spiritual counseling, and “assertive case management.”
Glass works with Antoine Dotson to provide safe homes for her clients to stay while they get back on their feet, many of whom may need to move for their own safety, to escape a situation or dangers posed by others.
As housing coordinator, Dotson fixes up houses and connects with landlords in the Greater Cleveland area to find safe spaces for clients to land.
“I grew up in the ghetto and I got in trouble because I didn't have any avenue to not get in trouble. The only thing in the streets is trouble when you are growing up,” Dotson said. “So I saw it as a chance to give young people a chance to see something different than what you used to seeing growing up in the ghetto.”
Dotson takes pride in giving people a sense of home, he says he will take extra measures, like supplying some toys or a home with a backyard to clients he knows have children.
“When you take people into these homes, they’ll be looking around, they’ll be like, ‘I can stay here?’ And you can feel the energy from them,” he said. “So it feels good to me personally to help these people at least give them a chance, something different. So they have a shot.”
Client Sharee Thompson took took advantage of the safe housing offered by Glass and the center when she was going through a domestic situation, finding herself without a home, and three young children to care for.
“To see that it was livable and comfortable, it was breath and fresh air to be honest, after everything that we've been going through,” Thompson said.
Thompson said Glass has offered housing resources, therapy, and mentorship, and has made a meaningful impact on her life.
“I was at a bad spot when I met her and it just wasn't looking in a good way,” Thompson said. “And she helped me to change that image and be hopeful again.”
Last year, Glass and her team served just shy of 300 people, keeping them safe, and working to equip them with the tools to move forward with their lives.
“There's so many shootings in our communities that don’t even make it to the police. There's a lot of gun violence that has taken place in our community, it has reached really epidemic levels,” Glass said. “We have families that have experienced multiple episodes of gun violence, in that one family. We see it all the time.”
According to data from the Cleveland Division of Police, from the beginning of the year through June 24, 2023, homicides with firearms are up 41.07% year to date, compared to the same time period last year. Cases of rape are up 3.29%, and felony assault is up 8.11% year to date.
“It's enough violence in our community, and if we don't do it, nobody's going to do it for us,” she said. “That's what reminds me every day when I want to give up. Because every morning I get up, it’s like, ‘why am I doing this?’ I remind myself why I'm doing this. It's because we as Black people have to help Black people.”
Glass also has a team of people helping her, including people she has helped in the past, who have come back to support her mission. Some of those people came from work Glass did in a church in the early 2000s ago, when she was asked by a pastor to work with young people who were at-risk.
Jeanine Knox met Glass years ago at church, and couldn’t believe that the woman standing in front of her could ever begin to understand all she had been through.
“By the time I am 12 years old, I've been molested, I've been raped, I've seen somebody get killed. I mean, drugs everywhere,” Knox said. “You don't have any idea while you are in your hell that you can make it out.”
Filled with anger and feeling broken, Knox was initially reluctant to get to know Glass. But after learning more about Glass’ own story, Knox found Glass was the only one she felt comfortable opening up to.
“I believe one of the main reasons why I was probably so able to cling to her and listen to her and trust her is because she had been there herself,” Knox said. “She has a story. So it's not like I'm just sitting across from somebody who hasn't been where I've been. She's there and she made it out.”
“If you have not experienced this, you don't know what it takes,” Glass said. “I experienced it, so I know what it takes. And so that's why I keep doing it.”
Glass has been on both sides of the violence; she’s been a victim herself, someone who has experienced heartbreaking loss, and someone who has served her time. She uses those life experiences to relate to others, and show them that healing and change are possible.
With Glass’ support, Knox went on to become a nurse, now working with Glass to care for those who may have gunshot wounds or stab wounds once they come out of the hospital and work with Glass. Knox credits Glass’ support in pushing her to pursue this career and turn her life around.
“Not all of us want to stay victims. Some of us want to make it out, and that was my story,” Knox said. “I don't want to be a victim. I don't want my circumstances to dictate to or to continue to dictate me going down the wrong path. And so I am simply here to give back to the community what was given to me - hope.”
Hope is fundamental to the work Glass does, aiming to break cycles of violence and show others that it isn’t too late to chart a new path.
“It's all about hope. People do what they do because they lose hope. People stay in the trauma they stay in because they don't have hope,” Glass said. “And so we want to be able to change that.”
Fore more information on the Brenda Glass Multipurpose Trauma Center, click here.
