Why I Wear Orange
Fon's Story
My name is Fon Dockery.
I am a husband, a girl-dad, a worker, and a church member. Unfortunately, my family is only one of the 2,599 other families affected each year by gun-related deaths since 2022.
Jenesis was only eight years old with a smile that still lights up the rooms, a love so sincere and welcoming. Jenesis loved the Lord. Jenesis loved her friends, her sister, and her classmates beyond words. She was bright, joyful, creative, and full of life. She had dreams of being a nurse, maybe a teacher. Jenesis had a future she deserved to grow into.
But, on July 25th, 2023, I dropped off my two beautiful innocent daughters - Jenesis and Amara (5 years old) - at their babysitter’s home. Traumatically, that same day, I would only pick up one daughter, Amara.
In a single moment, just 4 days away from Jenesis’ 9th birthday, our entire world changed when another child in the home accessed an unsecured gun.
Jenesis’ death continues to impact our family and those who love and know her. My daughter Amara now struggles randomly daily, making statements like “I just want my sister to be here with me” and “Mommy, I want sissy to come back for Christmas”. She is in therapy. She carries the weight of traumatic grief and trauma that no child should ever have to carry.
My wife and I struggle daily with an empty room in our home that we now sit in front of, and just cry and vent our frustration with a bed that won’t ever be filled again.
What happened to Jenesis didn’t just impact our household. It rippled through our community. This is not just my story. This is a community story. This is a North Carolina story. And for far too many of you, this is your story too.
I Wear Orange because I hope that my story prevents another family from walking through what we are enduring. This is why I work with NCGV – to make sure not one more of our loved ones is taken by gun violence.
NCGV is honored to work with Fon and other survivors in our Survivor Advocates Circle. If you are a survivor of gun violence and would like to join our June 23rd Survivors meeting, read more and sign up here [link removed].
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NCGV Education Fund
PO Box 2162
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
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