COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — When a shooter killed five people at Club Q in Colorado Springs Nov 19, some club employees lost their colleagues as well as their livelihoods.
The LGBTQ nightclub had many regular performers and producers who relied heavily on that income. Tiara Kelley is one of them. She most recently performed at Club Q the night before the shooting.
"It's been a very stressful, overwhelming week," she said outside of her home in Denver. "I live with this sense of guilt, like why did he choose that night and not my night? Why? Why was I not there? So many whys, and there's all kinds of guilt that comes along with it."
Guilt comes from knowing she's alive but needs more to live. Kelley said she's one of several performers who have lost part, if not all, of their income while Club Q remains closed.
"Right now this should be a time for us to be able to grieve and mourn and heal and not have to worry about how we're going to pay our rent and whether we're going to be evicted or not," she said. "The goal is to get money in the pockets of the staff and the cast now, today."
On social media, Kelley and others are circulating direct ways people can contribute to the people who regularly performed at Club Q. While she knows big organizations will be distributing funds, she said that takes time.
"There are organizations, there are victims' advocacy, there are all of those things that are trying to help and going to help eventually, but the reality is December 1st is right around the corner," she said. "We've lost so much and the last thing I want to do is see my family continue to hurt and continue to be in need."
Kelley is coordinating a benefit this Thursday in Colorado Springs to support the Club Q family impacted by the shooting. She said she plans to work directly with the Club Q owners to get the proceeds distributed.
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