Valerie’s House in Naples helps those grieving loved ones

May marks the start of mental health awareness month, and one group is working to help people understand how unresolved grief plays a role in mental health.

Haley Thalheimer spends a lot of time at Valerie’s House in Naples.

“My dad actually died when I was 11 years old.. and so, just kind of thought that someone was like, you need to hear about Valerie’s House,” Thalheimer said.

She’s on the advisory board and volunteers to help lead group nights at Valerie’s House. She told WINK News being the support system she needed when she was younger means everything to her.

“The subject or the stigma around death.. there’s a lot around it, in our culture, in our country, in society. As a child, I was fortunate enough to go to therapy and to be able to have that support, but it was just me. I had no one my age or no one in my grade, aside from family members, who understood what I was going through,” Thalheimer said.

Valerie’s House plays a huge role in helping people understand how unresolved grief can impact mental health.

“For these children to have a network of support, a network of their peers to support them.. is just incredible. And I really do believe it will change the course of their lives forever,” Thalheimer said.

“When you were sitting in a circle of peers, and they can say, me, too, yeah, I feel angry, too, yeah, I’m happy, but then I feel guilty that I’m happy, it’s powerful. So, then you know that you are not alone,” Sarah Andrus, the director of Valerie’s House, said

And that’s a gift that kids in grief can depend on.

The folks at Valerie’s House told WINK News they eventually plan to expand and offer grief support counseling in areas like Immokalee, Golden Gate, and Marco Island.

Link to the WINK News article: https://winknews.com/2023/05/01/may-is-mental-health-awareness-month/?fbclid=IwAR2vxF-gnOxbDLMjDcnu9IQx5x-7uC313HoiyfJzvCGVbOc0zbThFSCCi18

Valerie’s House Pensacola welcomes community at Open House

FOR MORE INFO:

Crista Brandt, Northwest Florida Director                                                                         

Valerie’s House Pensacola                                                                                      

850-266-0795                                                                             

crista@valerieshouse.org                                                         

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Grieving Families in Northwest Florida Have a Place to Call Their Own

Valerie’s House Pensacola welcomes community at Open House

 PENSACOLA, FLA. April 24, 2023 – Children grieving the death of a loved one in Pensacola now have a cozy, comfortable house to call their own.  After two years of serving the Northwest Florida area, Valerie’s House Pensacola (VHP) officially opened its new home to the community Friday, April 21 during an official Pensacola Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting and Open House at 904 E Gadsden Street near downtown.

 More than 250 people filled the rooms for tours and had the opportunity to speak with families, board members and volunteers about the services at Valerie’s House. Guests strolled through the historic home which has been renovated to include healing rooms, art spaces, and gathering rooms for adults and children to be together during their grief journey.

 “Thank you to all the people who took time to attend Valerie’s House Open House. Hundreds of people walked through the doors of Valerie’s House at The Chadbourne Foundation Home to witness the impact and space we are providing so no child in our community grieves alone. The outpouring of support was nothing short of amazing” said Crista Brandt, Valerie’s House Northwest Florida Director.

 Valerie’s House is the first and only non-profit in the panhandle with its sole mission to help children grieving the death of a loved one. The Pensacola chapter of Valerie’s House opened in 2020 spearheaded by Brandt. The program spent nearly two years in a donated space from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida before the Chadbourne Foundation donated a home of its own to Valerie’s House.

 “The Chadbourne Foundation is indebted to Valerie’s House for enabling us to put our funds to use in an effective and palpable manner with the founding of The Chadbourne Foundation Home,” said Caroline DeMaria, Chadbourne Foundation Board Member.  “We are also thankful that the founder of Valerie’s House, Angela Melvin, sanctioned a location in the panhandle under Crista’s passionate leadership.”

 More than 230 children and adults receive support from Valerie’s House, including students at Pace Center for Girls, where Valerie’s House hosts an in-school group. Valerie’s House Peer-to-Peer support model helps children share, connect, and build bonds with other kids their age dealing with similar experiences. Children have the opportunity to decrease isolation, identify and become aware of their normal feelings of grief, and learn safe and effective ways to manage their difficult feelings. Valerie’s House helps make connections between the participants’ grief stories, so they know they are not alone.

 15 percent of children in the panhandle are predicted to lose a parent or sibling before the age of 25. One in 11 children in Escambia County and 1 in 14 in Santa Rosa county will experience the death of a parent or sibling by the age of 18.  Valerie’s House hosts grief support groups and other activities for children and families during the week at no cost to families.

 To enroll a child who is grieving, or to find out more, please visit www.valerieshouse.org/pensacola or contact Crista Brandt at pensacola@valerieshouse.org.

Valerie’s House was founded in January 2016 in Fort Myers, Florida and has grown to help more than 3,000 children and their families across the state at locations in Fort Myers, Naples, Port Charlotte and at its newest location in Pensacola. The organization is named after Valerie Melvin, a Fort Myers wife and mother of two who died in 1987 in a car accident. For more information, visit www.valerieshouse.org 

Valerie’s House helps grieving wife, mother, journey on

Cape Coral widowed mom of four works through heartbreaking tragedy to finish law degree for self and family

By DEVON CRUMPACKER | Apr 21, 2023

“I had to keep moving. Or else I just would have laid there. I had to keep moving forward,” said Rochelle Pitts from the front steps of a large, old Florida home in downtown Fort Myers, known as Valerie’s House. Rochelle was there to be sworn in as an attorney, having just passed the Florida bar. But she was thinking back on what it took, in the face of immense tragedy, for the widowed mother of four to get to that point.

Just before Christmas, in December, 2020, Rochelle’s husband, Jesse Pitts, died after a car crash on his way home from work. He was 32 years old.

Rochelle was 30.

The couple had three children together–two girls and a boy–and Rochelle was pregnant with their fourth, a girl. Rochelle was also days away from beginning her final semester of law school at Ave Maria School of Law.

Her husband’s healthy organs helped save the lives of four others on Christmas day that year, as he was able to donate his heart, liver and kidneys.

But, for Rochelle, a bleak new reality was beginning to set in.

And processing it all was nearly impossible.

She had waited by his side for three days as he lie in a hospital bed on a ventilator, waiting for the organ removal procedure. She already knew there was nothing else the doctors could do for him at that point. Still, she stayed with him those three days. She laid next to him. She held him. She placed his hand on her belly to feel their unborn baby. And then, eventually, it was over. And it was just Rochelle and her kids.

She couldn’t sleep. Guilt wracked her conscious. Her life didn’t seem real. It was a horrible dream. Everything was coming at her all at once, and she needed a way out, a plan. So, in a moment of despair, at 6 in the morning, crying, she called her old boss, Allan Parvey. It was Parvey who got Rochelle in touch with Valerie’s House.

Founded in 2016 by Angela Melvin, Valerie’s House provides open-ended peer support groups and activities for children and families in hopes of helping them heal after a significant loss in their lives. It seeks to provide a sense of community and a platform for individuals to come together, share, and mentor each other through their grief.

“It’s a place where people come to not feel alone,” said Melvin of Valerie’s House. “Grieving families can come together here, and bond, and become friends.”

Melvin was inspired to found Valerie’s House after examining her own experience with grief, having lost her mother, Valerie, to a car accident when she was just a young girl.

“In Fort Myers, we didn’t have anything like this back in 1987,” said Melvin of Valerie’s House to the crowd of friends and family gathered for Rochelle’s swearing in ceremony. “But we’re not alone anymore.”

Rochelle said she immediately took to the Valerie’s House style of coping with grief. She said there’s no placating, or patronizing at Valerie’s House. Grieving people are allowed to feel their feelings. Phrases like, you’ll feel better, or time will heal it aren’t part of curriculum.

“It was very validating,” said Rochelle. “If I feel like crying, I’m going to cry. I’ll cry right now if I want to.”

Valerie’s House also represented a small slice of normalcy for Rochelle and her family.

“I needed to find people that were similar ages, and people that actually understood grief,” said Rochelle. “It was the only place we could go and feel normal.”

Rochelle also credited law school and her legal studies in general for giving her life some structure during a time where everything seemed so chaotic.

“I needed someone to tell me, ‘Hey you need to be (in class) at 8 a.m.’ I needed it to function. I needed to be responsible for things.”

Rochelle went on to finish law school and pass the Florida bar exam, studying any moment she could. She would listen to lectures in her car on her way home from work. She would listen to more study material while she made dinner for her kids. She would stay up until almost midnight. She would even teach her kids the law as a type of study exercise on days and nights she wasn’t able to find a babysitter.

“I would sit there and explain the law to them,” Rochelle said. “Because, if I couldn’t explain the law to them, then I wasn’t going to understand the law myself.”

But, Rochelle has banked the hill now, as she was sworn in as an attorney on Friday evening at Valerie’s House by Lee County Circuit Judge Robert Branning. She will go to work at Aloia, Roland, Lubell & Morgan, PLLC, as an associate attorney specializing in personal injury law.

“Not one of us can profess to know what you have been through,” said the firm’s co-founder and senior partner, Ty Roland, who was at the ceremony. “But it certainly feels like it makes sense to be in a place whose mission is to … help people who have suffered unimaginable loss.”

Before the ceremony came to a close, Rochelle confirmed her intent to keep coming to Valerie’s House. She has no illusions about ever fully getting over the tragedy that befell her family. But she knows Valerie’s House can help with that, even if it’s an ongoing battle. That’s why she wants to be there to help others when the situation arises.

“Even if we grow in our journey, we want to keep coming back to help the next family that comes through those doors,” said Rochelle.

Juniper Makes $100,000 Gift for Valerie's House New Forever Home

March 29, 2023

FOR MORE INFO:

 Angela Melvin, CEO                                                   Susan Bennett, APR, CPRC

Valerie’s House                                                 Susan Bennett Marketing & Media 

239-204-5804                                                             239-277-5255

angela@valerieshouse.org                                           sbennett@susanbennett.biz

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNIPER MAKES $100,000 GIFT

FOR VALERIE’S HOUSE NEW FOREVER HOME

FORT MYERS, FLA. March 29, 2023 – Valerie’s House is one giant step closer to completing its dream of having a home of its own for grieving children and families in Lee County with the donation of $100,000 in landscaping services from Juniper, a Fort Myers-based company with offices throughout Florida.

Landscape Design by Juniper

Juniper will be providing all design, landscape, irrigation and outdoor lighting on the one acre site at 3551 Shoemaker Lane in Fort Myers.

Juniper is the latest in a long list of community support for Valerie’s House, which initially began with the donation of the one acre property from the City of Fort Myers in November of 2019.  The project is now 50 percent complete with an anticipated opening this fall.

“We are grateful for all of the people who continue to want to be a part of Valerie’s House,” said Founder and CEO Angela Melvin.  “Having the talents of Juniper for our outdoor areas is helping us bring this house of healing to life with the Old Florida style that we love.”

“The design will include a memory garden, walking trail, larger, mature trees and outdoor lighting so the spaces can be enjoyed into the evenings,” said Dan deMont, chief revenue officer for Juniper.

“Juniper Cares, our charitable fund, has primarily focused its outreach and support on worthy youth organizations. Valerie’s House could not be a better example of that,” deMont said.

A total of $2.6 million has been raised toward the $3 million cost of the new home that is under construction on land donated by the City of Fort Myers under a $1 per year lease.  

The home will be a cozy, warm, old Florida style structure. The 7,000-square-foot facility will also allow Valerie’s House to help more children and provide wrap-around services, such as individual grief counseling to support families who desperately need it.

Valerie’s House is still looking for sponsors for several areas in the home, including the playground area, the activities gazebo and some of the children’s rooms.

“If you haven't donated yet, please consider being a part of our family,” Melvin said. “We are so close to reaching our goal. When the doors open later this year, you will know you are a part of this legacy for our community.”

To review the Family is Forever Home, visit www.valerieshouse.org/capital-campaign, call 239-478-6734, or email Project Manager Sterling Lund at sterling.lund@valerieshouse.org

Valerie’s House has helped more than 2,000 children and their families since its founding in 2016 by Angela Melvin, whose mother Valerie was killed in a car accident in 1987.

One in seven children in Florida is predicted to lose a parent or sibling before the age of 25, according to the 2022 Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model.

Valerie’s House currently offers peer support groups and other activities at locations in Fort Myers, Naples, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and Pensacola. Valerie's House is a United Way partner agency and is fully supported by community donations.

 About Valerie’s House

Valerie’s House opened in January 2016 and has served more than 2,000 children and their families from Lee, Collier, Charlotte, and Hendry counties. The organization provides a safe, comfortable place for children to share, grieve and heal together following the death of a close family member. Valerie’s House has three locations: 1762 Fowler St. in downtown Fort Myers, 819 Myrtle Terrace in Naples and group therapy meetings at several churches in Charlotte County.  For more information, visit www.valerieshouse.org

About Juniper

Juniper was founded in 2001 and has grown to become the 17th largest landscape provider in the United States, according to Lawn & Landscape Magazine.  The Fort Myers-based company employs 2,200 people in 18 branches throughout Florida. For more information, visit www.junipercares.com

The United Way of Charlotte County Awards Valerie's House with $37,000 Grant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                          

Media Contacts:

Nina Mendes, Communications Coordinator Christine Carey, Charlotte County Director

Valerie’s House Valerie’s House

nina@valerieshouse.org christine@valerieshouse.org

(239) 204-5804 (239) 841-0382

 The United Way of Charlotte County Awards Valerie's House with $37,000 Grant

FORT MYERS, Fla. – February 9, 2023 – A $37,152 grant has been awarded to Valerie’s House, a nonprofit organization in Southwest Florida helping children grieve, which will help expand the organization’s grief support services in Charlotte County.

This grant was made possible by the United Way of Charlotte County and will help fund Valerie’s House peer grief support groups.

“We are so thankful to receive support from the United Way of Charlotte County,” Valerie’s House Charlotte County Director Christine Carey said. “This partnership will help us expand our reach to help more grieving children in our community.”

More than 4,000 children living in Charlotte County have experienced the death of a parent or sibling. Valerie’s House Charlotte County currently provides services to grieving families out of New Life Church in Punta Gorda and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Port Charlotte.

“Our group nights continue to grow as we raise awareness of our services,” Carey said. “Bereaved families need support, and it’s crucial to be able to provide them with resources at no cost.”

Research shows that bereaved teens have higher high school dropout rates, lower test scores, and lower college attendance. Young children who experience the death of a parent or sibling are more likely to be expelled from school, repeat a grade, and are less likely to be enrolled in gifted education programs.

Thankfully, research also indicates that interventions, like the grief support programs offered by Valerie’s House, can mitigate these risks and improve the likelihood that grieving families will thrive despite their devastating loss.

Valerie’s House programming is designed to teach grieving children that loss doesn’t have to limit their dreams. What began as grief support groups held twice per month has evolved into a complete offering of wraparound services designed to fully support the mental health and well-being of each grieving child and their caregiver.

About Valerie’s House

Since its opening in 2016, Valerie’s House has helped more than 2,000 children grieve the loss of a loved one.

Valerie’s House currently offers support groups and other activities at a home on 1762 Fowler Street in Fort Myers and a home in Naples at 819 Myrtle Terrace. Valerie’s House also holds group meetings at New Life Church in Punta Gorda and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Port Charlotte. Valerie’s House is a United Way partner agency and is fully supported by community donations. More information can be found at www.valerieshouse.org.

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Naples Winter Wine Festival to benefit Valerie’s House, bereaved children

The Naples Winter Wine Festival kicks off this week, and 2023 focused on raising money to support children’s mental health. One of those groups helping Southwest Florida kids is Valerie’s House, a nonprofit that provides support for children grieving the death of a loved one.

The first things you notice when you walk into Valerie’s House at 819 Myrtle Terrace in Naples are the bright colors and a sprawling paper tree.

Mackenzie Francois added a green leaf and explained what it represented.

“All the kids come, and they write the loved one’s name on a leaf,” Mackenzie said. Her own leaf is in remembrance of her mother.

“It says ‘love you,’ and I wrote the letters of the song that she and I would sing when I was a kid,” Mackenzie said.

The song is “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion. When Mackenzie was 16, her mom suffered a stroke and died months later. Not only did Mackenzie lose the rock in her life, but she also had to move to Southwest Florida from the east coast to live with distant cousins, then enroll in a new school and start over.

Mackenzie describes that time as a blur.

“It was never, like, sitting down and processing, ‘OK, this is what’s happening; this is how we have to move on from this,'” Mackenzie said. “I don’t think that my body really or my mind processed how I was feeling at the time, and so I was kind of on autopilot.”

One month after her mom died, we went into COVID-19 lockdown and school went online.

“It was kind of just me being alone and grieving alone,” Mackenzie said. “And when we went back to school, my counselor told me about Valerie’s House.”

Sarah Andrus is the outreach director at Valerie’s House, which works with bereaved children from 4 to 18.

Mackenzie (Photo Credit: Kelly Jones Photo Naples Photographer)

“We can’t make mom or dad come back, but we can give them ways to still connect and express what they’re thinking and feeling,” Andrus said.

When Hurricane Ian hit, it took an already vulnerable group and ripped away the little sense of security they had left.

“The other layer of the damage, of just personal belongings that belonged to someone who died also being gone and taken away in the flooding and in the damage from the storm… it’s devastating,” Andrus said. “We had some of our caregivers, some of our moms, express [that] ‘We feel like our grief was taken away from us; now we can’t even grieve because we have to rebuild our home or figure out insurance.'”

An estimated 7,000 children in Collier County are grieving the loss of either a parent or sibling, and all those children have memories of their loved ones.

“Lives are changed here,” Mackenzie said. “Every single kid that’s ever walked through these doors… they never left feeling the way they did when they entered; they always left with a smile on their face, maybe a few tears.”

For Mackenzie, Valerie’s House became a home away from home that rooted her.

“I’ve met very wonderful people who helped me, who I would honestly, like, owe them my life,” Mackenzie said.

That’s why the now-college freshman still comes back to volunteer.

WINK News and Gulfshore Life are sponsors of the Naples Winter Wine Festival.

New Year, Same Challenges

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Chelsea Harper moved to Southwest Florida after being homeless in Michigan, not long after she met her husband, Tim.

They each had two children before, and after they married, they had two children together. Life as they knew it took a turn when their daughter was two.

“My husband was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer, HPV positive,” said Harper.

Tim’s cancer spread to his stomach, abdomen, lower back, liver and lungs and his health continued to decline.

“Unfortunately, last year at Christmas time, on Christmas Eve, actually. His oxygen level was extremely low and his heartbeat was extremely high, as if he had been running a marathon. He was only sitting in a chair,” Chelsea said.

The following week he went in for a procedure and doctors nicked something. His lungs started bleeding and they couldn’t control it.

Doctors put Tim in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator. It was only supposed to be for a few days but Tim wasn’t getting better.

“On New Year’s Eve, last year was the first time they almost lost him in the middle of the night. He coded for 45 mins,” she said about her husband.

It happened two nights in a row and doctors couldn’t do anymore, so Chelsea asked if they could make Tim comfortable and let him go peacefully.

She said, “I stayed with him. I felt his last heartbeat, I felt his last breath and I dropped to the floor. I don’t remember much more of that night. It’s. Still, it’s so hard even a year later.”

It all happened around the holidays and the New Year. Three days after Tim passed, his good friend reached out to Chelsea and told her about Valerie’s House in Fort Myers. “We set up a time to meet and it was like immediate family, immediate family.”

It wasn’t easy after the loss she just experienced.

“Our first group night, I actually was going to bring them in and I was going to go sit in my car in the parking lot and wait. But I brought the kids in and we got our name tags and they went off to their groups and I went to my group instead of the parking lot. I was like, wow, they’re literally saying all the feelings that I’m hiding inside.”

When grieving, there are moments of strength and weakness, but because of Valerie’s House, it’s a benefit for Chelsea and her children.

“It’s amazing to watch my kids interact with other children knowing they’re going through the same thing.”

Just like adults, kids grieve too. This new year brings new or the same challenges for families like Chelsea’s.

“My youngest son really struggles. He’s been very angry since my husband passed. That’s just how he copes with it, my youngest daughter. She sings she will sing about anything and everything; she sings about her daddy being in the hospital and he went to heaven,” said Chelsea.

But now every time the holidays and the new year roll around.

“It’s been a year. It’s been over 367 days since my husband passed, and it feels like it’s been 24 hours.”

Her story is a reminder that even though it is the new year and a happy time for some, “I mean even this new year everybody at midnight was like Happy New Year on Facebook, I put “New year… not quite so happy”, because for some of us, it’s not.”

Chelsea says, look out for those who you know are struggling or going through something that’s life-changing like death in the family, loss of their home, the loss of a pet even. “Be there for those people and smile at everybody because you never know how a smile can change someone’s day.”

Interior Designers Announced for Valerie's House New Forever Home

Construction of the Lee County Forever Home

FORT MYERS, FLA. January 17, 2023 – Valerie’s House is one giant step closer to completing its dream of having a home of its own for grieving children and families in Lee County.  Several local interior designers have stepped up to be the first to donate their creativity for the home under construction at 3551 Shoemaker Lane in Fort Myers.

The designers are the latest in a long list of community support for Valerie’s House, which initially began with the donation of a one acre property from the City of Fort Myers in November of 2019.  Lennar Homes, Tomahawk Construction, Wayne Wiles Carpet, Creighton Construction and several others have stepped forward to help complete the project, which had been delayed due to COVID.

“We are very grateful for all of the people who continue to want to be a part of Valerie’s House,” said Founder and CEO Angela Melvin.  “Having the creative talents of local interior designers is helping us bring this house of healing to life.”

The initial interior designers on the Valerie’s House Lee County Forever Home team are as follows:

●  Lisa Davenport of LDD Interiors in Naples/Bonita Springs;

●  Jolene Hardy of Jolene Designs in Fort Myers;

●  Luanza Maitland of Norris Furniture and Interiors in Fort Myers; and

●  Mickey Dickson Marzucco of Ecru & Ebony Design in Naples;

The designers have helped Valerie’s House create floor layouts for the different healing rooms to allow each space to be functional for the grief support groups and other activities that will be held at Valerie’s House.

Valerie’s House is now seeking local furniture stores, lighting, window treatments, and other businesses that will help furnish and fill the interior spaces.

A complete list of room designs and needs is posted on the Valerie’s House website at www.valerieshouse.org/first-floor-design and www.valerieshouse.org/second-floor-design.

Among the more unusual items needed are boxing gloves, hanging punching bags and tumbling mats for the Valerie’s House Volcano Room.

“Our Volcano room will help youngsters burn off energy and anger about the loss in their lives.  Punching bags and boxing gloves will help them express the emotions they are feeling,” Melvin said.

There are 30 rooms to furnish with some still available for sponsorship.  All donors will be permanently recognized on a wall in the hallway of support. To make a donation, visit www.valerieshouse.org/capital-campaign, call 239-478-6734, or email Project Manager Sterling Lund at sterling.lund@valerieshouse.org

“If you haven't donated yet, please consider being a part of our family,” Melvin said. “We are so close to reaching our goal. When the doors later this year, you will know you are a part of this legacy for our community.’

A total of $2.6 million has been raised toward the $3 million cost of the new home that is under construction on land donated by the City of Fort Myers under a $1 per year lease.  

The home will be a cozy, warm, old Florida style structure. The 7,000-square-foot facility will also allow Valerie’s House to help more children and provide wrap-around services, such as individual grief counseling to support families who desperately need it.

Lennar Homes is acting as the project manager for the construction of the home, which is expected to be completed by late summer.  

Valerie’s House has helped more than 2,000 children and their families since its founding in 2016 by Angela Melvin, whose mother Valerie was killed in a car accident in 1987.

One in seven children in Florida is predicted to lose a parent or sibling before the age of 25, according to the 2022 Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model.

Valerie’s House currently offers peer support groups and other activities at locations in Fort Myers, Naples, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and Pensacola. Valerie's House is a United Way partner agency and is fully supported by community donations.

About Valerie’s House

Valerie’s House opened in January 2016 and has served more than 2,000 children and their families from Lee, Collier, Charlotte, and Hendry counties. The organization provides a safe, comfortable place for children to share, grieve and heal together following the death of a close family member. Valerie’s House has three locations: 1762 Fowler St. in downtown Fort Myers, 819 Myrtle Terrace in Naples and group therapy meetings at several churches in Charlotte County.  For more information, visit www.valerieshouse.org

Valerie’s House Receives Donation for New Home Grief support center for children will expand with new location

December 9, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                          

Media Contacts:

Crista Brandt, Valerie’s House Pensacola,

850-266-0795, crista@valerieshouse.org

Valerie’s House Receives Donation for New Home

Grief support center for children will expand with a new location

Pensacola, Fla. – December 9, 2022  - Valerie’s House, a non-profit in Pensacola with the sole mission of helping children grieve the death of a family member, will expand into a new home thanks to the generosity of a donation from a Pensacola family foundation.

The Chadbourne Foundation has donated $500,000 for the purchase of the new Valerie’s House in Pensacola.  The Chadbourne Foundation, under the leadership of Caroline and Brian DeMaria, made the donation after getting to know the mission when a family member and their child attended Valerie’s House support groups. Valerie’s House- The Chadbourne Foundation Home for Grieving Families will be located inside a cozy, historic home at 904 East Gadsden Street. 

Chadbourne Foundation, statement

Valerie’s House- The Chadbourne Foundation Home for Grieving Families is the first free standing location in the region with its sole mission to offer ongoing grief support for children and adults at no cost to families.  Valerie’s House is not a formalized counseling center, but a community and a platform for grieving families to come together and help each other through the grieving process. Valerie’s House is based on a national model and helps children share, connect, and build bonds with other kids their age. The program uses a variety of art, music and journaling activities.  The vision of Valerie’s House is that no child will grieve alone.

Valerie’s House Pensacola founder Crista Brandt, whose own mother died when she was 11 years old, said the new home will allow the organization to help many more grieving children in a warm and inviting environment.

“We are very grateful for The Chadbourne Foundation’s generosity and their belief in our mission,” Brandt said.  “This new home will be a game changer in how our community is able to help families heal after a death in their family and it is a dream come true for our families.”

Valerie’s House expanded into the panhandle in late 2020 with Brandt’s leadership and in less than two years, has helped more than 100 children and their families find connection and healing in one of their various peer support groups.

 “When I was 11, my mother lost her battle with cancer.  I didn’t know anyone that had a parent die or understand what I was dealing with,” Brandt said. “I held in my pain and it made it much worse for my family.  It’s our mission to make sure no child ever has to grieve alone in our community.”

Valerie’s House Pensacola has been utilizing the Big Brothers Big Sisters building off Creighton Road since opening in 202 but has quickly outgrew the space.

Brandt says Valerie’s House is looking forward to the opportunities the new house will bring in helping grieving children and families in the community.

“We know grieving families need to be together and to have a place where they know they can be themselves and heal without judgement,” Brandt said. “That’s exactly what this home will be for our families. We are excited for the future.”

About Valerie’s House

Valerie’s House first opened its doors in 2016 in Fort Myers in a small cozy home and has followed with expansions into Naples, Port Charlotte, and now Pensacola, Florida.  Valerie’s House was founded by Angela Melvin, whose mother Valerie, died in a car accident in 1987.

Valerie's House is a 501 © 3 non-profit and its Pensacola chapter is a United Way partner agency and fully supported by community donations.  To learn more, please go to www.valerieshouse.org/pensacola or contact Crista Brandt at crista@valerieshouse.org.

Fort Myers family has Christmas light show to sponsor grieving family

by Alexia Tsiropoulos

8:34 PM EST, Tue December 13, 2022

But for the McQuade family, it is about more than lighting up the night sky.

These twinkling lights can be seen for miles along Ranchette Road in Fort Myers.

“ I don’t think a lot of people like to take the time to put up all these cool lights so I think it’s really cool they were able to do this,” Adlei said. She was most excited to see Santa Claus.

The McQuade family starts setting up about six weeks in advance before opening their gates. Which many look forward to.

“Adds to the Christmas festivities for the community and for a lot of people there are so many different stories that we hear about how much this is meant to different families and how they’ve been bringing your kids here since they were literally weeks old,” David McQuade said.

But for McQuade and his family, it is about more than just the Christmas carols and glistening lights.

“In past years, we’ve sponsored families that have had children battling cancer,” he said

This year, they worked with Valerie’s House to find the perfect family to sponsor.

“Nicole and her family, She has three children, a Fort Myers family. And we wanted them to not have to worry about anything this Christmas,” Valerie’s House Founder and CEO Angela Melvin said. “We wanted them to have tons of gifts and we wanted them to have dinner.”

She said it was a tough decision picking a family for the McQuade family.

“So many families could benefit from any kind of financial assistance, especially at this time of year,” Melvin said.

McQuade knows the work of putting the thousands of lights in his yard is all for good.

“I wish we could help everybody but if we can make a difference in one person’s life, I mean it’s worth all the time, and all of the effort that we put into it,” He said.

The McQuade family has their light schedule on their Facebook page.

There you learn more about Nicole and her family, as well as when Santa will make a quick stop.

Valerie’s House on Nationally Aired LIVE with Kelly Ripa & Ryan Seacrest Show

What an incredible opportunity for Valerie’s House to have a chance to speak about Valerie’s House and the plight of grieving children on a national level. The live segment below aired in December 2022 and the outpouring of support from around the country after the segment aired was nothing short of extraordinary.

Valerie’s House Founder Angela Melvin Appears On National Television

December 2, 2022

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                          

 Media Contacts:

Angela Melvin, Founder & CEO                                                                                                                                         Susan Bennett, APR, CPRC

Valerie’s House                                                                                                                                                      Susan Bennett Marketing & Media 

239-204-5804                                                                                                                                                                                   (239) 277-5255

angela@valerieshouseswfl.org                                                                                                                                         sbennett@susanbennett.biz

Valerie’s House Founder Angela Melvin Appears On National Television

FORT MYERS, Fla. – December 2, 2022 – Angela Melvin, founder and CEO of Valerie’s House, was a special guest on “Live With Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest” on WINK-TV today.

Melvin said she received a call November 22 from the show’s producers, asking if she would be available for the interview as their Good News story.

The six-minute interview was done via Zoom from the Valerie’s House location in downtown Fort Myers.

As a result of the interview, Melvin said she has received dozens of calls and emails asking about Valerie’s House and how callers can have a Valerie’s House in their community.  The Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest show also donated $5,000 to Valerie’s House to continue their good work.

“It was a great experience as I was able to tell the Valerie’s House story to a national audience and spread the word about how to help children grieve the loss of a loved one,” Melvin said after the interview.

Valerie’s House first opened its doors with 20 children and their caregivers on the evening of January 11, 2016, in a small house in downtown Fort Myers.  Since then, the organization has grown to help more than 2,000 children and expanded into three additional locations across Southwest Florida, including Naples, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and its newest location in Pensacola.

The interview came on the heels of National Children’s Grief Awareness Month in November. One in seven children in Florida is predicted to lose a parent or sibling before the age of 25, according to the 2021 Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model.

In addition to talking about the founding of Valerie’s House, Melvin discussed the Pay It Forward vision of Valerie’s House where teens who have gone through the program then come back and mentor other grieving children.

Ryan and Kelly also asked Melvin about Valerie’s House expanding throughout the state and nationally.  Melvin replied, “We know there are many places around the country that are without grief support services for children and if we can help other communities start something similar to Valerie’s House, we will do so.”

Valerie’s House provides a safe, comfortable place for children and their families to heal together following the death of someone they love. Valerie’s House offers support groups and other activities at a home on 1762 Fowler Street in Fort Myers and a home in Naples at 819 Myrtle Terrace. Valerie's House also holds group meetings in Charlotte County at First United Methodist Church in Punta Gorda at 507 W. Marion Ave. and at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church at 2565 Tamiami Trail in Port Charlotte.  Support services are also offered in Pensacola. Valerie's House is a United Way partner agency and is fully supported by community donations.  More information can be found at www.valerieshouse.org.

California Closets Makes Major Donation to Valerie's House for New Forever Home

FORT MYERS, FLA.,– California Closets has made a major gift to Valerie’s House for its new Forever Home under construction at 3551 Shoemaker Lane in Fort Myers.

California Closets has donated $50,000 to sponsor one of the new therapy rooms and has agreed to donate the materials and labor to install the built-in shelving and closets throughout the home. “We are very grateful to California Closets for helping us build our new Forever Home,” said Valerie’s House Founder and CEO Angela Melvin.  “The generosity of Bo Woods and Suzi Henderson ensures that we will be able to fulfill our mission of no child grieving alone after the death of a loved one.”

The built-ins will be needed throughout the home to store materials needed for grief support activities, according to Sterling Lund, Valerie’s House project manager. One of the most important areas to be built into the new home will be the teddy bear wall.

Woods said they have been supporters of Valerie’s House for several years.

“Our goal is to apply our expertise and product to create a calm, organized space that allows the staff at Valerie’s House to focus on what matters most,” Woods said.

vICE President bO hENDERSON, WIFE sUSIE Woods, DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, TayLOR wOODS & Director of Sales & Marketing, hEATHER wOODS

California Closets plans to spend a day volunteering on property to install their custom pieces. “It is important to our company that everyone can be involved in helping make this project possible” says Woods.

A total of $2.5 million has been raised toward the $3 million cost of the new home that is under construction on land donated by the City of Fort Myers under a $1 per year lease.  Several room sponsorship opportunities for the community are available.

The home will be a cozy, warm, old Florida style structure, with special rooms like a volcano room, which allows children to work out any anger or other emotions they have because of their loss.  The 7,000-square-foot facility will allow Valerie’s House to help more children and provide wrap-around services, such as individual grief counseling to support families who desperately need it.

Lennar Homes is acting as the project manager for the construction of the home, which is expected to be completed by mid-2023.  

Valerie’s House has helped more than 2,000 children and their families since its founding in 2016 by Angela Melvin, whose own mother was killed in a car accident in 1987.

One in seven children in Florida is predicted to lose a parent or sibling before the age of 25, according to the 2022 Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model.

Valerie’s House currently offers peer support groups and other activities at locations in Fort Myers, Naples, Punta Gorda, and Port Charlotte. Valerie's House is a United Way partner agency and is fully supported by community donations.

For more information about Valerie’s House or to make a donation to the Forever Home Campaign, visit www.valerieshouseswfl.org/capital-campaign, call 239-478-6734, or write angela@valerieshouseswfl.org. 

About Valerie’s House

Valerie’s House opened in January 2016 and has served more than 2,000 children and their families from Lee, Collier, Charlotte, and Hendry counties. The organization provides a safe, comfortable place for children to share, grieve and heal together following the death of a close family member. Valerie’s House has three locations: 1762 Fowler St. in downtown Fort Myers, 819 Myrtle Terrace in Naples and group therapy meetings at several churches in Charlotte County.  For more information, visit www.valerieshouse.org

About California Closets

For more than forty years, California Closets has built a reputation as a leader in premium and luxury space management, delivering truly custom products and unparalleled service California Closets sees home as more than just a place—it is a source of comfort and refuge, a space for connection and celebration. Committed to offering quality custom storage solutions, California Closets helps give people a sense or organization that allows them to focus on what matters most. Today, there are 120 showrooms and 700+ designers across North America.

Valerie’s House Volunteer Paying it Forward and Helping Others

Paying kindness forward. A young adult who grew up going to Valerie’s House after her mom died is now starting to volunteer to help other kids dealing with loss.

Thursday was National Children’s Grief Day. It’s not a day to celebrate but to make people stop and think.

The people at Valerie’s House help kids in pain every day.

“I’ve been coming here for seven years. My siblings and I have been coming here for seven years. It’s a place that just changed their life around. It changed my life personally in a way that not a lot of people would have done,” said Josselin Calderon, a volunteer at Valerie’s House.

Calderon lost her mom when she was 15. Valerie’s House helped her get through it. She said it was her turn to help others.

“Being able to help other kids and show them, hey, look, I was a mess, but I turned out to be just fine, and it’s the same for you. Just take it one day at a time,” Calderon said.

“The kids are so insightful, and they grasp the concepts that we put forward to them,” said Arinelle Lewis,  the group night and resource navigator at Valerie’s House.

Lewis said it’s important for kids to grieve in a safe, stress-free space.

“Just getting to watch them interact with the other kids and grow, the kids that start off kind of timid because it’s their first time. And then come for a few months and watching them grow and get more comfortable,” said Lewis.

Calderon said she misses her mom more and more each day, but she knows how to handle that. “I wish she was here. But I can say now that I turned out to be fine. I turned out to be OK.”

Now Calderon’s job is to show kids that they can survive the pain of loss just like she did.

Valerie’s House served as a shelter with food and necessary supplies for families impacted by Hurricane Ian.

They said grief is all around us.

A Message to Grieving Children

This is a message from some of our staff at Valerie's House.

The Lampila Family

Jeff Lampila lost his wife seven years ago and is a single father raising two children. Finn, age 13, and Kinzley, age 8, attend Valerie’s House with their dad for peer grief support groups. They were one of the first Valerie’s House families to ever walk through our doors.

Valerie’s House gives Children a voice during National Children’s Grief Awareness Month in November

Valerie’s House, a nonprofit organization helping children grieve the loss of a loved one, is participating in National Children’s Grief Awareness Month in November with numerous activities to give grieving children a voice.

“The loss and destruction the Southwest Florida community has experienced from Hurricane Ian now further compounds the emotions grieving children are experiencing. Children are grieving so much – their schools, their homes, their entire neighborhoods, another loved one in their life may also have died,” said Valerie’s House Founder and CEO Angela Melvin. “We must stand with them and support them now more than ever.”

Two major events are planned during the month:

• Valerie’s House in Fort Myers will host an open house so the public including families, school professionals, and other community members can tour the house and learn more about its grief support services Thursday, Nov. 17, which is National Children’s Grief Awareness Day. Professionals who work with children are encouraged to wear blue and drop by Valerie’s House at 1762 Fowler St. from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. RSVP to molly@valerieshouse.org.

• Valerie’s House in Naples will host a Live Art Event on Friday, Nov. 18, at 819 Myrtle Terrace. Visitors are invited to drop by from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. to meet local artists, enjoy small bites and a raffle as well as an opportunity to tour Valerie’s House and learn more about how art helps children heal. Tickets are free. RSVP to sarah.andrus@valerieshouse.org.

Throughout National Children’s Grief Awareness Month, Valerie’s House will share personal stories from families during videos, podcasts, interviews and other profiles posted on Facebook and on their website. They also are encouraging residents to share their own stories of loss on social media and how they have survived the trauma.

Valerie’s House counselors have been invited into Lee County schools during November to train school personnel on how to help children experiencing the trauma of losing their school or home to Hurricane Ian.

One in seven children in Florida is predicted to lose a parent or sibling before the age of 25, according to the 2021 Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model.

Valerie’s House provides a safe, comfortable place for children and their families to heal together following the death of someone they love. Valerie’s House offers support groups and other activities at a home at 1762 Fowler St. in Fort Myers and a home in Naples at 819 Myrtle Terrace. Valerie’s House also holds group meetings in Charlotte County at First United Methodist Church in Punta Gorda at 507 W. Marion Ave. and at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church at 2565 Tamiami Trail in Port Charlotte. Support services are also offered in Pensacola. Valerie’s House is a United Way partner agency and is fully supported by community donations. More information can be found at www.valerieshouse.org.

Valerie’s House Gives Children a Voice During National Children’s Grief Awareness Month in November

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                          

 Media Contacts:

Angela Melvin, Founder & CEO                                                                         Susan Bennett, APR, CPRC

Valerie’s House                                                                                                                                                      Susan Bennett Marketing & Media 

239-204-5804                                                                                                                                                                                  (239) 277-5255

angela@valerieshouseswfl.org                                                                                                                                    sbennett@susanbennett.biz

Valerie’s House Gives Children a Voice During

National Children’s Grief Awareness Month in November

FORT MYERS, Fla. – October 31, 2022 – Valerie’s House, a nonprofit organization helping children grieve the loss of a loved one, is participating in National Children’s Grief Awareness Month in November with numerous activities to give grieving children a voice.

“The loss and destruction the Southwest Florida community has experienced from Hurricane Ian now further compounds the emotions grieving children are experiencing. Children are grieving so much – their schools, their homes, their entire neighborhoods, another loved one in their life may also have died,” said Valerie’s House Founder and CEO Angela Melvin.  “We must stand with them and support them now more than ever.”

Two major events are planned during the month:

●        Valerie’s House in Fort Myers will host an open house so the public including families, school professionals, and other community members can tour the house and learn more about its grief support services Thursday, November 17, which is National Children’s Grief Awareness Day.  Professionals who work with children are encouraged to wear blue and drop by Valerie’s House at 1762 Fowler St. from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please RSVP to molly@valerieshouse.org

●        Valerie’s House in Naples will host a Live Art Event on Friday, November 18, at 819 Myrtle Terrace.  Visitors are invited to drop by from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. to meet local artists, enjoy small bites and a raffle as well as an opportunity to tour Valerie’s House and learn more about how art helps children heal. Tickets are free. RSVP to sarah.andrus@valerieshouse.org

Throughout National Children’s Grief Awareness Month, Valerie’s House will share personal stories from families during videos, podcasts, interviews and other profiles posted on Facebook and on their website. They also are encouraging residents to share their own stories of loss on social media and how they have survived the trauma.   

“We are asking everyone to join with us in helping. Reach out to anyone you know who is grieving and tell them about Valerie’s House.  Let them know we are here for them and that they are not alone.  Give them a voice, let them know you hear them,” Melvin said.

Valerie’s House counselors have been invited into Lee County schools during November to train school personnel on how to help children experiencing the trauma of losing their school or home to Hurricane Ian.

“A lot of kids are grieving the loss of their school and their classmates in addition to the loss of their homes.  They need a sense of normalcy, which we will strive to provide so that school personnel can better respond to students impacted by Ian,” Melvin said.

Valerie’s House first opened its doors with 20 children and their caregivers on the evening of January 11, 2016 in a small house in downtown Fort Myers.  Since then, the organization has grown to help more than 2,000 children and expanded into three addtional locations across Southwest Florida, including Naples, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and its newest location in Pensacola.

One in seven children in Florida is predicted to lose a parent or sibling before the age of 25, according to the 2021 Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model.

Valerie’s House provides a safe, comfortable place for children and their families to heal together following the death of someone they love. Valerie’s House offers support groups and other activities at a home on 1762 Fowler Street in Fort Myers and a home in Naples at 819 Myrtle Terrace. Valerie's House also holds group meetings in Charlotte County at First United Methodist Church in Punta Gorda at 507 W. Marion Ave. and at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church at 2565 Tamiami Trail in Port Charlotte.  Support services are also offered in Pensacola. Valerie's House is a United Way partner agency and is fully supported by community donations.  More information can be found at www.valerieshouse.org.

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Valerie’s House Teens Give tour of Valerie’s House

Join some of the Valerie's House teens on a quick tour through our facilities at our Fort Myers location.

Valerie’s House helps SWFL grieve after Ian

FORT MYERS

Whether you’ve lost a loved one or not, Hurricane Ian has affected you.

Seeling all the damage can only add to the mental strain.

That’s where Valerie’s House comes in to help you out.

The number of people visiting for grief support is higher than ever.

Families like the Moranvilles say they are thankful for everything the nonprofit is doing.

“We had pretty bad flooding. Everything in the house was destroyed, so, it was pretty devastating,” Diane Moranville said.

Moranville lost her husband to cancer just weeks before the storm.

Then Ian hit, and they lost everything.

“Having more time to sit and talk and reminisce and, you know, losing the home and all of this, we just, our communication is just tremendous. And it’s as bad as it seems. It’s a blessing because we’re getting so much closer. And we’ve always been close, always. It’s opening up, and it’s helping him open up,” she said.

Her son Evan is the reason she decided to call the nonprofit.

“Valerie’s House has helped me and the other moms that are dealing with this same exact thing, some in different ways,” Moranville said. “It really helps you see that, that you’re not alone. And it’s OK to come out and get some help because you need it.”

Evan learned how to rip out drywall after the storm damaged their home.

“I feel more useful. Like, I don’t know, I feel like because I’ve been doing it becausee like before, my dad would just kind of do stuff and I’d be there. But it’s like now actually doing I feel like I’m actually like, a part of something,” Evan said.

Evan said surrounding himself with others going through the same thing helps him feel heard.

“It’s pretty comforting, you know, because none of my friends obviously have that same thing. So, to talk to other people about it who’ve gone through the same thing, especially people who are my age, has been nice,” Evan said.

Valerie’s House, a 100-year-old home in Fort Myers, made it through the storm with barely a scratch.

Since the storm, Valerie’s House has been using it as a refuge for families.

As the death toll rises, the nonprofit said they are getting prepared for the number of children and families who will be grieving the death of a family member due to Ian.

“I think that’s pretty much the main goal, you know, to feel like you’re not the only one. Because if you’re, if you’re just sitting in your house all day, and you’re not talking to other people about it, you’re gonna, you’re gonna feel alone. Especially with stressful times stuff, you’re not gonna, you’re not gonna feel like there’s other people who are going through the same thing who can’t help,” Evan said.