Our Purpose
THE EARLY HOURS
In the early hours of November 8, 2018 The Thousand Oaks Teen Center was established as a crisis response center where families and friends of loved ones who were unaccounted for from the tragic shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill could gather and await information. Within hours this crisis response center was evacuated along with much of the Thousand Oaks community as the Woolsey and Hill fires ignited and bared down on this already tragedy-stricken town. The days and weeks that followed included sadness, anger, chaos, confusion, and the audacity of the indomitable human spirit to show up within the people of Thousand Oaks.
A THOUSAND STORIES
For every member of the Thousand Oaks community there are a myriad of stories to be told about what was experienced over those days and weeks. While those stories are born out of deep tragedy and loss, there is within them an unparalleled amount of strength and hope. It is the hope of this project to provide a space for people to share these stories that are being carried. Through a variety of opportunities this project will seek to collect stories from those affected by the community tragedies and the hopeful and uplifting responses that followed.
A Community in Turmoil
1 DAY, 2 TRAGEDIES
Though the shooting and the fires were two very separate events, they are and will forever be woven together in the experience and memory of this community. Likewise, the kindness, generosity, and strength of the people of Thousand Oaks is unforgettable as they worked together to build and create unity in the moments, days, weeks, and months that have followed those fateful events.
TELL YOUR STORY
The project is collecting stories primarily for the healing of individuals and the community as a whole. We do this through providing multiple places for people to share their stories including space for verbal story sharing, written stories, as well as a larger community event on the one-year anniversary.
“The aim of the Thousand Oaks Remembers campaign is to create a space for individuals and the community to move toward healing, Savage-Howie said. The project will host a series of listening sessions where people can share their experiences in small groups where they will also be given a chance to submit written stories that will be archived by the Museum of Ventura County.”
— Dawn Megli-Thuna, The Acorn
The Thousand Oaks Remembers
Steering Team
Sergeant Dillan Alvarez, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office
Claudia Bill-de la Peña, Thousand Oaks City Council member
Kelly Brown, Director of 211 Ventura County
Desta Goehner, Director of Congregational Relations, CLU
Wayne Jacobsen, Lifestream Ministries
Ashley Jones, Writer
Dawn Megli, Reporter, Thousand Oaks Acorn
Supervisor Linda Parks, County of Ventura
Shannon Savage-Howie, Community Member
Rev. Tom Stephen, Monte Vista Presbyterian Church