BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Buffalo mother Zeneta Everhart says when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's office reached out to her last week to invite her to the State of the Union, it was a surprising but welcome conversation.

"It's exciting. It's an amazing experience. I'm absolutely honored to be chosen to be there as Sen. Schumer's guest, but I definitely want to make sure that we are keeping the focus on what happened in Buffalo," she said.

Roughly nine months ago, Everhart nearly lost her son. Zaire Goodman in some ways was one of the lucky ones when he was shot and injured by a mass murderer but survived.

"It's a healing journey," Everhart said. "It's been up and down. Physically he's doing well. The doctor's like the progress of his wounds and things like that but we know that there's other wounds that we have to deal with."

On Tuesday, she will be the guest of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer at the president's State of the Union address. Everhart said she's there not just as a representative for her son, or the 10 Black people who were murdered at the Tops supermarket last May, but the community at large.

"It is me bringing the pain and the trauma of what happened on the east side of Buffalo with me, and yes, it's a great responsibility and I'm honored to carry that torch and I'm honored to just be the quote-unquote spokesperson for the east side of Buffalo and I just want the community to know that I'm going to continue to raise our voice," she said.

Everhart said she's looking forward to the opportunity to talk with Schumer, who has regularly checked in on Zaire, as well as other members of Congress.

"Just have some chats, right? Some chats about gun reform and about how the Buffalo community is doing," she said.

As for the speech itself, she said it would be great if President Biden spoke directly about the Buffalo shooting and the too many that have happened since. However, more than just a mention, she wants to hear about solutions.

"It's the larger picture for me. What are we going to do about this country, the state of this country, racism in this country? What are we going to do about gun laws? That's definitely what I'm looking forward to hearing from the president today," she said.

Everhart said even though time has passed, the families and community affected in Buffalo are a long way from being healed, and she hopes the president's speech will serve as a reminder there's work left to do.