Dear Friends of Jessica's House,

November is a lovely time of year for our valley with the leaves turning and harvest coming to an end. 

Last month in group, our art invitation focused on remembering our loved ones as we created ofrendas for Dia De Los Muertos. The children and teens remembered their person as they reflected on their own strengths. We also celebrated our donors at our Heart Circle Harvest Dinner. It was such a lovely time to gather with our friends.

This month's newsletter includes ideas on how to face the holidays when you're grieving. Holidays are often such a difficult time for our families after the death of a loved one, which is why we honor Children’s Grief Awareness Day each year on the Thursday before Thanksgiving.

During this season of thanks, I hold continual gratitude for our donors and volunteers - what a gift to be a recipient of your kindness and compassion.

With heartfelt thanks always,

Erin Nelson

Executive Director, Jessica's House

In recognition of Children's Grief Awareness Month this November, Jessica’s House is coming together with other members of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief to "flip the script" on grief. Throughout the month, we are collectively committed to providing essential tools and resources aimed at fostering a more grief-informed society. This initiative, created by NACG with support from national childhood grief organizations, Eluna, Experience Camps, Dougy Center and Judi’s House, seeks to address the common challenges people face when supporting those who are grieving, aiming to replace potentially hurtful statements or silence with comforting and constructive responses.

Children's Grief Awareness Month serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of acknowledging and supporting children who are grieving and their families. According to the JAG Institute’s 2023 Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model Report, an alarming statistic underscores the urgency of this effort: 1 in 12 children, or approximately 6 million children, in the United States, will experience the death of a parent or sibling by the age of 18. The profound impact of this loss cannot be understated.

Throughout November, Jessica’s House will be sharing quick and easy statements that can be invaluable to someone grieving. These statements aim to provide comfort, empathy, and support to individuals dealing with the profound loss of a loved one. By fostering a more grief-informed society, we can collectively help alleviate the pain and isolation that children who are grieving often experience. Be sure to follow us on social media to learn more.

As you face the holidays without your loved one, you may feel a sense of dread leading up to the festivities. The holiday season is often exhausting, and even more so when you are grieving. Plan times of rest and quiet at home when possible. Give yourself permission to decline invitations to events and gatherings, and plan to leave early when needed.

Ask your child what’s important to them about the holidays. Decide as a family what traditions you wish to keep and the ones you want to change this year. Ask your child how they would like to honor your loved one’s memory.

Some ideas include:

·      Selecting an ornament that reminds them of their loved one

·      Writing memories on strips of paper and creating a paper chain

·      Lighting a candle in their loved one’s memory

·      Preparing and eating their loved one’s favorite food

·      Writing a letter to their loved one and placing it in their stocking

As you grieve during the holidays, remember there is no perfect way to get through this difficult season. Most importantly, give compassion to yourself and trust your inner wisdom to do what is best for you and your children.

Materials: Watercolor paper, watercolors, watercolor pencils, markers, pencils, and brushes.

1. Holding a pencil in each hand, use your right and left hand at the same time to draw a large outline of a butterfly on your paper.
2. On the left side of the butterfly, paint/draw/write what your life looked like before your person died.
3. In the butterfly's body, paint/draw/write your current strengths, what is holding you together, and how you have grown since the person died.
4. On the right side of the butterfly, paint/draw/write what you hope for in your future.

Tip: Use markers first to allow the pictures and words to remain after adding the watercolors.

Our Heart Circle community is remarkable and thanks to their support, we can provide services at no cost to families, giving children and their caregivers access to best-practice grief support during their darkest days. 

From building our new permanent home, to now working towards sustainability for our future, our Jessica’s House Heart Circle is helping make a difference each and every day for grieving families. Together, we are creating a community of love and support, which in turn is changing the lives and outcomes of children and families in our community, something we all can be grateful for.

Thanks to the collective generosity of our Heart Circle, we are pleased to share that to date, we have raised $1,017,009 in new pledges for our 2023 Heart Circle Drive. This is tremendous, and we could not have done it without the support of our generous community.

We hope you will consider joining this group of champions who make the mission of Jessica’s House possible. For just $84 a month, you can be part of this amazing community, ensuring that children, teens, young adults, and their adult caregivers have a safe place to grieve and receive the support they so desperately need.

Since August, we have welcomed seven new Heart Circle contributors. We are grateful you have chosen to join this wonderful community of supporters, ensuring that a family in grief never needs to worry about paying for the support Jessica’s House uniquely provides. 

Jessica’s House is so grateful to all 254 Heart Circle contributors!!



For more information about the Jessica’s House Heart Circle call 209-250-5395 or 

visit online at www.jessicashouse.org/heart-circle.  

With Giving Tuesday approaching on November 28th, we wanted to take this opportunity to express our gratitude and simply say “Thank You.” Our work at Jessica’s House would not be possible without supporters like you. Whether you give the gift of time as a volunteer or the gift of a monetary or in-kind donation, it is because of you that we can provide hope and healing to children who have lost a parent or sibling.

As volunteers, donors, and friends of Jessica’s House, your giving spirit empowers us to ensure that no child in our community ever grieves alone.

On behalf of our entire team, we express our sincere gratitude for your ongoing support and for helping Jessica’s House fulfill its mission to provide a safe place for children, teens, young adults, and their adult caregivers grieving a death. Thank you for considering a gift to Jessica’s House this year. Your generosity makes a difference!

September Events

This fall, we have been fortunate to attend several outreach events in our surrounding communities. In September, we attended the Patterson Mental Wellness Summit for high schoolers as well as the Out of Darkness Walk for Suicide Awareness in Modesto. This was a powerful event, with over 1,000 people in attendance.  

Sienna's Walk

In Honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, we attended Sienna’s Walk in Turlock as well as Light the Night hosted by the Labor and Delivery nursing team from Doctor’s Medical Center. 

October Events

In October, we participated in the Turlock Fire Open House and Modesto’s Climb Out of the Darkness Walk for Perinatal Mental Health awareness. We attended the TUSD Family Information Night which focused on Fentanyl and substance abuse, and we wrapped up our fall events at the Carter Nelson Memorial Golf Tournament. 

Turlock Fire Open House

TUSD Family

Information Night

Modesto's Climb Out of the

Darkness Walk

Carter Nelson Memorial

Golf Tournament

We are grateful for all the outreach opportunities in our community as it’s an excellent way to continue building awareness of our services. A big thank you to our volunteers for supporting us at these events! We couldn’t do it without you. 

We loved thanking our Heart Circle donors at our annual Harvest Dinner on October 6th. Thank you to everyone who joined us for this wonderful evening of togetherness and thank you to our Youth Ambassador Hazel for sharing her story. 

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