Judi's House for Grieving Children

This is a 9 News Clip of Judi's House for Grieving Children. Our nephew Allan went to Judi's house for several years with Grandma Bell. I know that it really helped both of them with their grief over the loss of Allan's mom and dad. This clip (at the bottom of the page) includes Tylyn Strecker (in the maroon blouse), the flower girl in our wedding. She and her mom, Julie, are both are both very special to us. Her best friend was murdered earlier this year.

Here is the 9 News video link of Tylyn.
http://www.9news.com/video/default.aspx?aid=78720

Here is the article that goes along with the video clip.

Art exhibit expresses kids' grief, offers healing and hope
posted by: Dan Boniface written by: Cheryl Preheim
Date last updated: 5/30/2009 11:55:54 PM

DENVER - One picture is simply of an eye wide open. There is no question it is seeing something it will never forget.

It is one of the powerful images that are part of an exhibit featuring photographers who see the world through a lens they shouldn't have too.

They have all lost someone they have loved.

Tylyn Strecker is a high school student in Highlands Ranch.

"I didn't know that taking pictures could have this effect," Strecker said. "It has been such a big help to me."

Tylyn's best friend Ashley was killed on Jan. 24. Since then, she has been going to Judi's House. It is a place for grieving children and their families. It's a home in Denver near 17th and Gaylord that has been a safe place for more than 600 children every year who have lost someone significant in their lives.

Those kids are the artists behind the photography exhibit. They used cameras to depict their grief and healing.

Jason Stout is the development and outreach director for Judi's House

"It doesn't matter if it was a parent who died or a sibling or other family member or a friend," Stout said. "We offer support groups for those children and for their parents."

Strecker said: "I needed a place where I felt safe talking to people and a place where I could connect with people. I have felt accepted and welcome at Judi's House and that has helped me through this time so much. I really appreciate that."

Former Denver Broncos quarterback Brian Griese started Judi's House in 2002. It's named after his mother, Judi, who died of cancer when he was 12. He says he often felt isolated and unable to express his grief. He didn't want any other child to feel the same way.

Stout says that about 40,000 children in the metro area lose a parent every year. Many more lose another family member or close friend.

Judi's House has supported kids who have lost loved ones to plane crashes, car accidents, and health problems. The circumstances of the loss are all different but the impact is the same. It is devastating for a child.

Stout says it's important that the kids who come don't feel judged. He says they feel safe and accepted talking to the trained grief counselors.

"When they come to Judi's house they find a place where people listen," Stout said. "We don't tell them how they should feel or how they should grieve or how they should heal, we just listen to them and companion them."

The programs provide many different activities to help the kids process what they are feeling and what they have been through. The photography exhibit is just one example.

You'll find customers at Common Ground Coffee in Downtown Denver spending a lot of time over a latte looking at the pictures and reading the stories that accompany them. The images are touching a lot of people; some who have also experienced that kind of loss, some who haven't, but now understand more about it through the exhibit.

It is a hard subject to photograph, but for every image of grief there is also one of healing. That, like Judi's House, is hope.

The exhibit will be open to the public through the third week of June.

Common Ground is near the corner of 17th and Wazee St. in Downtown Denver.
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