With reserved seating, audiences will experience a thrilling journey through Jackson's greatest hits—from the rhythmic beats of Off The Wall to the haunting classic Thriller. This tribute captures the essence of the King of Pop and guarantees an exhilarating performance for all ages.
Read MoreIn an inspiring new collaboration, Valerie’s House Pensacola and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) have joined forces to offer essential grief support to young women at the Pace Center for Girls Escambia-Santa Rosa counties. With a generous $5,000 donation from FPL’s NextEra Energy Foundation, Valerie’s House is now able to bring specialized grief counseling directly to the classrooms at Pace, providing support to girls coping with loss due to death, incarceration, or abandonment.
Read MoreAt Valerie’s House Pensacola, we are incredibly grateful to have community champions like Rick Byars and Jamie “Rhino” Rhone on our Strategic Advisory Board. These dedicated members from the Nature Trail community have shown remarkable commitment and compassion in supporting grieving children and families. Through their leadership, expertise, and community connections, they have been instrumental in helping Valerie’s House expand its reach and deepen its impact in Pensacola.
Read MoreAt Valerie’s House Pensacola, we are deeply touched by the support and love shown to us by the East Hill Neighborhood Association. Their recent spotlight on our Pensacola home has truly highlighted the heart of our mission—offering healing and hope to grieving children and families. We are incredibly thankful for this recognition and for the opportunity to be part of such a warm, welcoming community.
Read MoreAt Valerie’s House Pensacola, our mission to provide a safe space for grieving children and families just took a monumental step forward. Thanks to the incredible efforts of the Leadership Pensacola (LeaP) Class of 2024, we are thrilled to share the story of how our outdoor spaces have been transformed into a sanctuary of healing, connection, and comfort for those we serve.
Read MoreValerie's House, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting grieving children and families, celebrates a significant achievement in its Pensacola chapter. Crista Brandt, the Northwest Florida Director of Valerie's House, was recognized as the Advocate of the Year during the 64th Annual Pensacola Area Commitment to Excellence (PACE) Awards. Held on March 18 at the Pensacola Beach Hilton, the event was hosted by the Greater Pensacola Chamber and brought together 350 community leaders to honor local business and community champions.
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Closing Circle at Pensacola Beach
Valerie’s House Pensacola Family
PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. -- One in 11 kids in Santa Rosa and Escambia counties have lost a parent or a sibling.
Valerie's House in Pensacola says that's about 9 ,000 kids between the two counties. They offer grief counseling to kids and family members who've lost a loved one.
Since they opened three years ago, Valerie's House has helped 330 families and their numbers are growing.
They held a remembrance event on Pensacola Beach Thursday night. Families came together to honor and remember those they've lost.
Each of them had horrible stories of loss, but say Valerie's House has helped them overcome that grief.
"We help the kids identify some of the feelings that come up with grief," said Jennifer Elzweig, program manager at Valerie's House. "It can’t be messy whether you’re five or 50 and once they are able to start talking about some of those feelings we try to teach them some coping skills that they can use that can last them through their entire life. We do that by showing them that they’re not alone and introducing them to children who have similar experiences.”
Young Caysen lost both of his parents. Bennet and Asher lost their father in February.
10-year-old Frankie suddenly lost her mother when she was 7.
Her family says the loss has been hard. Her grandmother Tess now raising Frankie and her younger brother.
"Frankie came home from school ,her mom wasn't at the bus stop and they went in and unfortunately found her deceased," Tess Pease said. "Julian was there with her and it was really tough for all of us."
"It's really hard to talk about it, but it got better," Frankie Pease said. "I'm glad I came."
Linda Joiner lost her daughter Kayla Atwood to domestic violence. She was murdered back in January.
Joiner says the loss has been devastating.
"I couldn't breathe," she said. "I couldn't believe the way things happened."
Each of these families going through grief -- and each of them chose Valerie's House to help them.
The families say they feel a sense of community knowing they're not alone in their grief.
"I hope that they just feel a sense of community," Elzweig said. "I know that we’ve created space for them to grieve together because it’s a very human experience."
"To know I'm not by myself, I'm not the only one," Joiner said. "There's somebody else just like me that felt the pain and the loss that I feel."
Valerie's House offers free services.
Read the full article here: https://weartv.com/news/local/remembrance-event-on-pensacola-beach-helps-grieving-families-of-lost-loved-ones
When it feels like there are no right words to offer someone grieving the loss of a loved one, sometimes it keeps them from saying anything at all.
Sadly, the ones who can say it best are the ones who have lived through the experience themselves.
Valerie’s House Pensacola, the area’s only nonprofit organization devoted solely to child grief support, came to Pensacola in late 2020 to help remove that isolating, uncomfortable feeling for children ages 5 to 18 who have suffered the loss of a parent or sibling.
Starting with only 15 children and their caregivers, the chapter has grown to serve over 300 in less than three years. The organization has two full-time staff, two part-time staff and 53 volunteers.
Now, Valerie’s House receives referrals weekly from the Department of Children and Families, first responders and schools for at-risk children grieving the loss of a parent or sibling.
The overall goal of the organization is that 70% to 80% of the children who attend Valerie’s House groups for at least six months to see a dramatic progress such as the ability to talk about their loss, to trust someone new in their life and to have hope for the future.
They learn the skills to navigate difficult moments like when a classmate catches them off guard and asks a jarring question, like “how did they die?” or they feel the sadness and resentment in every Christmas tree and department store window that reminds them of family memories.
The Pensacola chapter was founded by Crista Brandt, who is one of those that understand the lingering feelings of grief after losing her mother to cancer at 11 years old.
She persevered in securing funding for the program to have a permanent home of its own in 2023: the Chadbourne Foundation Home at 904 E. Gadsden St. It came equipped with everything they needed to make the children feel at home when they showed up for a session. Everything except a kitchen, which will soon change after the organization was selected as an IMPACT 100 recipient last month.
Brandt’s grant application, fittingly named “The Kitchen is the Heart of a Home,” details how a critical part of the Valerie’s House model is to serve a meal before each group night for children and their caretakers, which takes place eight to 10 times every month. However, with only a kitchenette currently, they make the most of carry-out meals. With their new kitchen, they will be able to provide nourishing, home-cooked meals.
These group times are built around peer-to-peer support and are cherished moments for staff and families. According to the kids, the process is working.
When walking through the doors of Valerie’s House for the first time, some youth have never put the feelings behind losing a loved one into words. Though they will tell you it isn’t the fuzzy rugs or couches that make the families feel at home, it’s a place filled with familiar feelings and experiences.
Annabelle Chadbourne, 14, remembers what it was like to walk the school hallways after her dad died unexpectedly. She kept her feelings to herself; she watched her grades drop and felt like she didn’t belong in places that used to be familiar.
“Even when you’re doing your best, it doesn’t always feel like it’s enough,” Chadbourne said. “I didn’t really know anyone who had gone through the same thing as me.”
Then she met fellow Valerie's House client Emma Rathbun, 13, and heard herself in Rathbun's stories.
“I held those emotions in for months,” Rathbun said of the death of her mother, Christine Rathbun.
She remembers how it felt like there was “no point in trying” to talk to people about it because she knew they would never understand.
“I know exactly how you feel,” Chadbourne chimed in.
“As soon as I realized everyone else’s stories, I got comfortable about mine,” Chadbourne said.
According to Brandt, these connections are intentionally nurtured at Valerie’s House. Through seemingly lighthearted games like grief Jenga, where the children take turns answering personal questions after pulling a piece. There, they feel safe enough to share without judgment.
“Here, you learn to normalize,” Brandt said of the children explaining their grief. “Knowing it’s okay to feel (emotions) and being able to identify what they are.”
One exercise they work on in group sessions, Rathbun’s favorite, is meditation exercise where a chocolate Hershey’s Kiss is used as a point of focus. With a meditation instructor guiding them, one regular leader being program coordinator Jennifer Elzweig, they focus on being in the moment while also coming face to face with their memories.
Other exercises include decorating masks, with each color representing a different emotion, to reflect how they feel on the inside and outside.
They lean on one another through peer-to-peer support and make connections, and over time, the progress starts to show.
Even though Chadbourne didn’t quite know how to explain her feelings before, with over a year of Valerie’s House sessions, she can now articulate to you how learning of her father’s death felt like a nuclear bomb.
They also began realizing how many more kids out there they relate to, despite how alone they felt at first.“There have to be more kids out there,” Rathbun said.
The Valerie's House model supports the whole family by offering family fun activities and educational opportunities for caregivers.
They help caregivers to relax and find others that they relate to.
Oftentimes it is difficult for the caretakers to process their own emotions, as they are focused on working through the grief of their own children.
Bruce Rathbun, Emma's father, described the “denial” that comes after the loss, before allowing yourself to feel all the emotions of it.
“One thing in the American culture is we don’t have a set grieving process,” Rathbun said
You get a lot of people trying to tell you how to feel and cope with the loss, which Rathbun found to be one of the worst parts.
At Valerie’s House, you’re just allowed to feel whatever emotion you have at the time.
In research published by the 2022 Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model published by Colorado-based bereavement center Judi’s House, one child out of every 11 in Florida will have a parent or sibling die before graduating from high school.
In Escambia County alone, one in 11 children will lose a parent or sibling by the age of 18. In Santa Rosa County, it is one in 14.
On a broader level, the Department of Juvenile Justice found that 30% of the children in Florida’s juvenile detection system suffered the loss of a parent or sibling.
This has made them five times more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety, and five times more likely to struggle with addiction.
Studies show that bereavement has the strongest influence on school outcomes of any form of trauma.
Aside from being able to speak more openly about their grief, Brandt said she has seen academic performance go up, in addition to better concentration during the school day.
“Most kids do struggle in school after losing someone,” Brandt said.
More updates and information can be found on the Valerie's House Pensacola chapter website.
Valerie’s House, the leading nonprofit dedicated to helping children grieving the death of a loved one, is pleased to announce the appointment of Crista Brandt as the Northwest Florida Director. Brandt brings her extensive managerial experience and personal passion for supporting grieving children to this pivotal role.
Brandt’s journey with Valerie’s House began when she spearheaded the launch of the Pensacola Chapter in late 2020. As a dedicated volunteer for two years, Brandt played a crucial role in serving grieving families in the community. Now, as the Northwest Florida Director, she will lead Valerie’s House Pensacola full-time, providing invaluable support to those grieving a loss.
Valerie’s House Pensacola Volunteers
Local Pulse Pensacola
By Elli Gentile
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“There’s beauty in community and connection even through loss,” said Crista Brandt, Director, Advisory Board Chair, and Founder of Valerie’s House Pensacola.
Last Thursday, June 8, over one hundred members of our community came together at Pensacola Beach’s Park West to honor and remember loved ones they have lost. As one big family, they decorated biodegradable lanterns with notes and memories to their loved ones before lighting them and releasing them into the sound.
Among their services, Valerie’s House provides open-ended peer support groups and activities for children to heal after a significant loss in their life. Valerie’s House is not a formal counseling center. It is a community and a platform for individuals to come together, share, and mentor each other through their grief.
Before the lantern lighting ceremony, kids played in the sand and water, laughed with each other, and were surrounded by love, encouragement, and empathy.
“My mom and I found Valerie’s House, and our hearts and minds were touched. It’s been very therapeutic for me helping others. It’s given me a new sense of meaning,” said Elijah, 18, who lost his father recently and now volunteers with Valerie’s House.
The Wave of Remembrance event was the first of its kind for Valerie’s House and definitely won’t be the last. The timing of this event was also purposeful. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can be a hard time for many of these families, especially the ones who have lost moms and dads, so Valerie’s House wanted to host something special for them between the two holidays.
Thursday was also the same day that an awful thunderstorm rocked Pensacola in the late afternoon. But even after such a severe thunderstorm, a magical Pensacola sunset appeared afterward. An analogy to finding peace and happiness after loss.
“We love analogies at Valerie’s House, and today was a perfect example. A beautiful sunset after such a terrible storm,” said Jennifer Elzweig, Program Manager at Valerie’s House.
To start the ceremony, Jennifer introduced a handful of children who read poems dedicated to the loved ones they have lost while everyone gathered in a circle around them. After that, everyone in the circle said the name of the person they were honoring before lighting their lantern and releasing it.
The evening was filled with laughter and love but also tears and grief. A concept that is commonly discussed at Valerie’s House. Grief comes in waves and has no timeline. It’s okay to feel angry and sad, but it is also okay to feel happy again.
Valerie’s House provides a space for all of those feelings to be felt, and we are fortunate to have such an incredible space to support members of our community who are going through such loss. Thank you for allowing me to photograph and be a part of your special evening.
For more information and to learn how to get involved with Valerie’s House, visit https://valerieshouse.org. Currently, some of their biggest needs are meal donations on peer nights, male volunteers, and a contractor to help them build out their kitchen.
Link to the news article: https://localpulse.com/2023/06/valeries-house-wave-to-remember/
WUWF 88.1
By Bob Barrett
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Angela Melvin was ten years old in 1987 when her mother, Valerie, was killed in a car accident in Fort Myers. It was a day that set her on a path to find a way to help young people like herself deal with a devastating loss. In 2016, that path finally led her to open Valerie’s House, a Florida-based nonprofit dedicated to helping children who have lost a loved one.
“We’re a special place for grieving children located in Fort Myers, Naples, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, and now we’re in Pensacola, Florida," said Melvin in a recorded message on the Valerie’s House website. “Our mission is to help children and families work through their grief together, not alone, and go on to live fulfilling lives.”
The same year Angela suffered her loss, Crista Brandt lost her mother to cancer. Eventually, their paths crossed.
“When Angela started the Valerie’s House down in Southwest Florida, they expanded incredibly fast," said Brandt. “There’s just a massive need that many communities aren’t aware of. Then in 2020, we (started a Valerie’s House chapter) here in Pensacola after Angela and I met and bonded over our shared experiences of losing our moms at a very young age.”
Crista Brandt holds a photo of her mother
Crista Brandt is the founder and regional director of the Pensacola Chapter of Valerie’s House. Once she got the local chapter up and running, she discovered that there were plenty of kids who could use the support Valerie’s House had to offer.
“You’d be surprised how many kids there are grieving in our area," said Brandt. “What we do know is that 1 in 14 children in Santa Rosa County, and 1 in 11 in Escambia (County) are predicted to lose a parent or sibling by the age of 18.”
For the first couple of years, the local chapter held its group sessions at the Big Brothers/Big Sisters headquarters in Pensacola. Late last year, they found and purchased a new, permanent location on East Gadsden Street thanks to a $500,000 donation from the Chadbourne Foundation. The home, which had recently been used as a law office, was built in 1904 and has almost 2,500 square feet of space, most of which will be used for client intake, group support meetings, snacking, and anything that meets the needs of young people who have suffered a loss, and their caregivers.
“Really, the biggest thing with children who have lost somebody they are close to is that they don’t even understand all the various emotions that they are feeling," said Brandt, sitting on a sofa in one of the many group-meeting rooms at the new location. “(Most of) society in general just puts ‘sadness’ as the main emotion that accompanies grief. But it’s actually not. And, especially in kids, it comes out and comes across in other ways. So, what we help them do is focus, understand (and) identify all the various emotions. We talk about what those are. There’s a lot of guilt; some are worried, some are anxious, depressed. Anger is a very big one. So we help them understand those so they can recognize that those are all normal feelings and it’s okay. Now, how do we actually work and process through those.”
Brandt says another important part of the Valerie’s House experience is connecting children with others in their same age group who are going through the same feelings of loss.
“They normally aren’t going to know anybody else in their immediate circle going through, or has gone through, a loss similar to them. So, when they come to Valerie’s House, what we give them is that connection with other kids, their same age, going through similar experiences so that they know that they are not alone.”
The bottom line for the group is trying to prevent the consequences of unsupported grief, not only for the children, but also for society as well.
“We know that 30% of the children in Florida’s juvenile detention system have lost a parent," explained Brandt. “We know that those who are unsupported are more likely to partake in small, petty criminal activities, risk-taking behavior, self-harming behavior, they are five times more likely to struggle with addiction and five times more likely to struggle with anxiety and depression way into adulthood. We’re not just changing the trajectory of kids’ lives today, but we are really changing the trajectory of their lives in the future and the lives that they will touch in the future.”
The main focus of Valerie’s House is on school-age children, from K through 12. Caregivers also meet while the young people are having their sessions, and accommodations can be made for very young children, if for nothing else, than to give caregivers a break so that the older kids can get the help they need.
Currently, there are no specific sub-groups for children who have lost siblings rather than parents or for sudden, violent losses, but Brandt says that is a goal for the future.
“Someone who dies from cancer is a different situation from someone who is murdered. So we want to be able to hone in on more of the loss-specific circumstances and offer very specific group nights," said Brandt. "That’s something that we will grow into. Right now, everybody comes together, no matter what their loss is."
The Valerie’s House chapter in Pensacola has only two paid full-time employees and one part-timer. The rest of the organization is run by volunteers. They will be holding another volunteer training session in late July, just before the new school year begins. Volunteers are needed on group nights to be group buddies. Help is also needed for running community events and even some of the administration work; it all depends on a volunteer’s skills, experience, and availability.
“We are growing with our volunteer base," added Brandt. "We are incredibly thankful. We actually have a lot of volunteers from UWF. Some whom have had loss in their childhood. They are also healing as they help the children heal. It’s really a beautiful process.”
There are about 250 people enrolled in the local Valerie’s House program. Brandt says the easiest way to get information about enrolling or volunteering is on their Facebook page.
Link to the news article: https://www.wuwf.org/local-news/2023-06-12/valeries-house-pensacola-offers-a-safe-place-for-children-who-have-lost-a-loved-one
When a friend of mine invited me to attend Valerie House’s open house Friday, April 21 I had no idea who Valerie was or what her mission was, but hearing the passion in my friend’s voice I knew I wanted to learn more.
Walking into 904 East Gadsden Street, I immediately knew I was part of something special. The cozy, historic home was full of people from all walks of life — children and adults who are either already part of the Valerie House story, or would like to be in some shape, way or form.
On arrival, I was greeted by the ‘why’ of Valerie’s House and their names are Angela Melvin and Crista Brandt. Valerie’s House was founded by Angela whose mother, Valerie, died in a car accident in 1987 when Angela was just 10 years old. Crista’s mother passed away when she was just 11 years old.
Angela and Crista bonded over their losses and shared experiences. One being the lack of resources when it came to managing their grief as children. As a result, Valerie’s House was born.
The mission of Valerie’s House is to help children and families work through the loss of a loved one together and go on to live fulfilling lives. Their vision is that No Child Will Grieve Alone. It’s a safe place for children, teens and adults to work through their feelings with other individuals their age who have experienced something similar.
Among their services, Valerie’s House provides open-ended peer support groups and activities for children to heal after a significant loss in their life. Valerie’s House is not a formal counseling center. It is a community and a platform for individuals to come together, share, and mentor each other through their grief.
The new Pensacola location serves around 100 families in our area, hosting an average of 50 individuals on group nights. Groups meet twice a month for dinner before breaking off into separate peer groups to discuss feelings, struggles, healing, and how they move through school and life with their loss. Many activities rely on the use of art and music to help youth identify, express, and process their grief. While the adult/parent room is often accompanied by a licensed therapist.
The new location on Gadsden Street was made possible by a local Pensacola family foundation. In December 2022, The Chadbourne Foundation donated $500,000 for the purchase of the new Valerie’s House.
After touring the home and meeting many families and people who have been impacted by this organization, I was able to take away something very important.
Grief is not linear — it has no timelines, progression forward, or definitive time frame of when you’re going to ‘be healed.’ Some days you’re okay and some days you’re not. Valerie’s House provides a space for both of those days and we are fortunate to have such an incredible space to support members of our community who are going through such loss.
For more information and to learn how to get involved with Valerie’s House visit https://valerieshouse.org. Currently some of their biggest needs are meal donations on peer nights, male volunteers, and a contractor to help them build out their kitchen.
Valerie's House provide grief support programs and services for children in Southwest Florida. No child should grieve alone.
VALERIE’S HOUSE, INC.
Fort Myers • Naples • Charlotte County • Pensacola
Phone 239-204-5804
Valerie’s House is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, registration # CH46827. A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. For more information, contact the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs at 1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352) or visit www.freshfromflorida.com.
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