- Planning for School Vacations when Bereaved
- With Grateful Hearts: Hearts of Hope 2022
- Volunteer Spotlight: Erica McCalmont
- Upcoming Training Opportunity
- Ready, Set, Go! Derby time!
- Charity Guild of Catholic Women
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Planning for School Vacations when Bereaved
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Spring Break is here, and summer is around the corner. These breaks can be difficult for grieving families, who may struggle to enjoy time off while acknowledging the person who died. The bereaved miss the person who died and know that things are different. They may feel guilty when they are excited about a new activity because they believe they should only feel sad. It may be difficult for grieving families to decide which traditions, if any, to keep. Should they go back to the places and activities they used to enjoy before the person died? Do they want to try something new? Would it be better not to plan anything and to stay home?
Creating positive new memories as the family you are now is an important aspect of healing. It can be helpful to talk about how to connect and create new memories as a family. Invite each family member to discuss which family activities were special in the past, which activities would be enjoyable now, and which activities they would like to do in the future. Take everyone’s feedback into account as you think what is possible this year. Whether your family decides to google “free things to do with children in Houston” or plan a vacation, setting expectations about how you will spend time together can make a difference.
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Celebrating together again, we are thrilled to share that this year’s Hearts of Hope Luncheon raised over $425,000! This funding will help sustain our Information & Referral Line as a critical resource to our community, support groups and special programs for bereaved families, adults, and students, education and training programs for helping professionals and others supporting the bereaved, and outreach and awareness around the critical issues of grief and bereavement in our community.
Led by co-chairs Daisy and John White, Niccole White Greeley, MD, and Christopher Greeley, MD, and Jacqueline White Arribas and Alfredo Arribas, DDS, guests were captivated by special guest speaker Ann Christensen, Professor and Chair of the English Department at the University of Houston. Ann’s husband Reagan Miller died in a plane crash in April 2019 on his way to a worksite. Ann turned to writing as a way to process and explore her grief experiences and began penning her memoir in progress, tentatively called One Woman Show in which she examines grief, widowed motherhood, aging and gratitude. She and her son Elliott came to Bo’s Place enrolling in one of our family grief support groups. About their first day, Ann shared, “It made me brave that day to meet the Bo’s people whose hearts of hope that September conveyed my teenage son and me into their loving care where we grew with others, with one another, and with ourselves.” Her willingness to be vulnerable and share parts of her own personal grief experiences with insight born of reflection and tender emotion laced with humor endeared her to all in attendance.
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Jacqueline White Arribas, Ann Christensen, Daisy White, Niccole White Greeley, MD, and Laura Laux.
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Guests were brought to their feet as this year’s Robin Bush Award recipients, Rebecca and Christyn Taylor, were honored. The Robin Bush Award is given annually to individuals who have made a marked difference in the lives of children in the Houston community. Since she was seven years old, Rebecca has fought an auto-immune disease and pancreatitis. Through the years that she has battled her illness, she and her mother, Christyn, have seen too many children traumatized by long hospital stays and too little understanding of pancreatitis in children. And so, they founded Rebecca’s Wish, a charity to help children who suffer from pediatric pancreatitis. “I may not be the healthiest person in the room, or the smartest or the strongest. But I know that I have a purpose,” Rebecca shared. “I pray that all of my suffering can one day be turned into the smile on another child’s face as they realize that they’re out of pain for the first time that they can remember.” In 1998, the Honorable George H.W. and Mrs. Bush allowed Bo’s Place the privilege of awarding the Robin Bush Award, named in memory of their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia when she was three years old. Since then, the Robin Bush Award has been given annually at the Bo’s Place Hearts of Hope Luncheon.
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Christyn and Rebecca Taylor with Sue Smith.
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A big thank you to our co-chairs, Heart of Gold Presenting Sponsors Sue Smith and Craig Brown, and all the generous underwriters and friends who supported the event. Thank you for helping Bo’s Place heal hearts!
Learn more about Bo’s Place programs through this special video.
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To make a gift to Bo’s Place, please visit the link below.
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Volunteer Spotlight: Erica McCalmont
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After she learned about Bo’s Place through her job 10 years ago, Erica McCalmont decided to start serving as a hospitality volunteer. Before long, she decided she was ready to become a volunteer facilitator, and she hasn’t looked back since! Erica says it is the families at Bo’s Place who make her volunteer experience so enjoyable, impactful, and rewarding. As part of her facilitator training, Erica observed a middle school group during the activity “gifts to make it through,” in which participants write gifts to each other in response to struggles members of the group are facing. Despite only being an observer for one night, the participants wrote her notes telling her what a great job she was doing!
Through the resilience and positive attitudes of families at Bo’s Place, Erica has learned to enjoy life, cherish her loved ones, and practice gratitude and kindness everywhere. Erica may just be an expert in gratitude --- she received a kidney from her sister 13 years ago!
When Erica isn’t volunteering at Bo’s Place, she enjoys spending time with her family, including 5-year-old twin boys. She also loves to cook, read, and spend time in the mountains making memories with her family.
Thank you, Erica, for your dedication to Bo’s Place!
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Upcoming Training Opportunity
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Mark your calendars for our upcoming webinar, Understanding and Supporting the Hispanic & Latino/a Bereaved Community, on March 25, 2022, from 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. This is a special online training opportunity being presented by Bo’s Place mental health professionals. Opportunities for continuing education are also available.
Offering 1.5 CEUs, this online workshop is designed for professionals who want to build their skills in supporting the Hispanic & Latino/a bereaved community more effectively. Participants will learn to interpret different ways grief and loss are defined in the Hispanic & Latino/a community, and will gain a better understanding of how cultural values impact the grief journey. The workshop also provides examples of culturally appropriate grief activities and group themes, and an overview of how to support grieving individuals across their lifespans.
Please plan to attend and share this information with your professional networks.
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Go! Time is running out to secure your table for the best Kentucky Derby party in town. Hats, Hearts & Horseshoes: A Kentucky Derby Affair benefitting Bo’s Place will take place Saturday, May 7, at the Houston Polo Club.
Break out your fascinators and seersucker suits as you prepare to cheer on your favorite horse. Before the race begins, play the “Run for the Roses” racing wall, bid on exciting silent auction packages, or bring home a new bottle of bourbon at the Bourbon Pull. This is one party you don’t want to miss!
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For more information, please contact Lauren Keeble, Development Administrative Assistant, at 713-942-8339 or derby@bosplace.org.
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Charity Guild of Catholic Women
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Bo’s Place is proud to be among the 2021-2022 Children’s Charities grant recipients of the Charity Guild of Catholic Women. This special grant allows Bo’s Place to increase the number of Healing Hearts Grief Resource Book Bags that we can distribute to school counselors to share with bereaved students. We will distribute 400 book bags by the end of the school year! In addition, with support from this grant, Bo’s Place will provide meals to families in our in-person family groups on Mondays and Thursdays (English groups), and Saturdays (Spanish groups). What an amazing organization the Charity Guild of Catholic Women is, demonstrating their faith through acts of love and kindness for 100 years! Thank you!
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On February 5 & 6, Bo's Place held our first ever virtual Volunteer Facilitator Training! There was a great turnout, with 35 new facilitator candidates completing the training. Observation spots have been filling up quickly as new facilitators are eager to start volunteering! Thank you to all the new facilitators; we are excited to have you in the Bo’s Place family.
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The Junior League of Houston Impact Volunteers have been a huge help in assembling supplies to mail to Bo’s Place online support group participants. Every month or so, four to five volunteers pack boxes to make sure that all of our group participants receive the items they need for their support groups. Thank you, Junior League, for being a valued Bo’s Place partner!
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On February 17, Team Bo’s Place celebrated the end of the 2022 marathon season at the Run for a Reason Charity Awards event. Rina Ocampo, Marathon Coordinator, and Debbie Leder, Top Team Bo’s Place Fundraiser and Board member, enjoyed an afternoon at The Grove downtown with other charity partners. Thank you to everyone who supported Team Bo’s Place this season!
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Hats off to Tootsies for hosting this year’s Derby Kickoff party on February 23. Attendees enjoyed a private shopping experience and picked out the perfect Derby attire for our May 7 event. Thank you, Tootsies, for all you do to support Bo’s Place and to help heal hearts!
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Bo's Place Grief Support Services
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At Bo's Place, we believe that grieving families heal when they share their experiences with each other. We offer free Grief Support Groups in English and Spanish to families and individuals.
If you or someone you know would like information about Bo's Place Grief Support Groups for children, families, and adults, click here or call 713.942.8339.
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Bo's Place exists to enhance the lives of those who have experienced the death of a loved one.
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