Unimaginable, A Memoir (2025)

Unimaginable, is an in-depth look at life after gun violence from the perspective of a witness, victim and survivor of a drive-by shooting.

On July 3, 2017, Camila, her older sister and her twenty-four-year-old nephew Jonathan were walking home from a pre-Fourth of July community dance when a vehicle pulled up next to them.  The sliding door rolled open and multiple shots were fired.  It sounded like firecrackers at first, but Jonathan repeated the words “I am hit. I am hit”.  That evening, worlds shattered, and life would never be the same. 

What would you do for justice?

Camila Kuntz’s pen name is Camila Montgomery.

Camila was a Finalist for the Emerging Writers Year-long Fellowship Program at the Loft Literary Center for 2019-2020. 

Camila received two Minnesota Arts Board Grants 2021 and 2022.

Camila is a member of the National GVP Advisory Group (2019 - current).

Camila served on the steering committee for the 2021 Gun Violence Prevention Conference.

Camila was moderator & panelist for Connection Out of Isolation: Resources to Help Victims and Survivors of Gun Violence in 2021 at the Gun Violence Prevention Policy Conference.

Camila is the Founder of the Healing Connection and My Voice. My Terms. initiative.

The Healing Power of Sharing Your Story Workshop kicked off with two sessions in 2022. More than 18 Minnesota organizations were awareness partners and helped promote the workshops.

I am very happy to have led the efforts for The Next Step Program to receive a $100K Grant from Everytown for Gun Safety.

“The Next Step Program provides critical support to victims and survivors of gun violence as well as those at higher risk of experiencing gun violence within the community,” said Camila Kuntz, a volunteer with the Minnesota chapter of Moms Demand Action. “This Everytown Community Safety Fund grant will help further expand their services to both adults and youth with community outreach programs and trauma-informed groups. The funding will be critical to closing the resource gap in the state where the number of Minnesotans dying from gunfire in 2021 rose to the highest level in over 20 years.”

More than 5,000 Minnesotans engaged with The Healing Connection during the Summer of 2022.