Ele’s Place Ann Arbor Opens Doors to New Custom Grief Center for Children and Teens
Ann Arbor – Ele’s Place Ann Arbor, the only non-profit community-based organization with a mission dedicated to creating awareness of and support for grieving children, teens and their families opened the doors to their new home in Ann Arbor at 5665 Hines Drive. With a soft-launch this summer for family night programs, their complete fall programming sessions will begin in September inside their new building with the ability to serve hundreds of grieving children, teens and their families in southeast Michigan.
One in 12 children in the state of Michigan will experience the death of a parent or sibling by the age 18. Unfortunately, the need for Ele’s Place’s services will never go away. The permanence, freedom and flexibility of the new home will be a valuable resource for our community today and for years to come.
In July 2018, Ele’s Place Ann Arbor broke ground on their new 15,000 sq. ft. building uniquely designed to meet the specific needs of grieving children and families and allows for future growth. Right away Ele’s Place will be able to expand programming from three nights a week to four with a growth rate of 25% expected within the first few years of opening the building.
“We are grateful for the generosity of The Jones Family Foundation and many other donors that propelled the ongoing support of the community in order for the building to be funded” said Monica Brancheau, Director of Ele’s Place Ann Arbor. “We would like to welcome the entire community to celebrate our Grand Opening on Sunday, September 29th, 2019 from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at 1:10 pm.”
The “A Home for Healing Hearts” Campaign is co-chaired by Howdy Holmes and Sue Snyder. Members of the Campaign Cabinet are Wayne & Shelly Jones, Betsy & Woody Stover, Jeff Hall, Sheila Morrison-Patrias, Sean Duval, Mark Ouimet, John Mann, Susan Torrible Spoor, Mark Blaufuss and Diane Kieliszewski. “We would like to thank our community leaders that are serving on our Campaign Cabinet for their time, energy and support of this campaign,” said Brancheau.
Ele’s Place programs are free to all families and individuals. If you would like learn more, please visit www.elesplaceannarbor.org or call 734-929-6640.
About Ele’s Place: Ele’s Place, a community-based nonprofit in its 12th year in Ann Arbor, is dedicated to creating awareness of and support for grieving children and their families. Through peer support groups, Ele’s Place helps children and teens learn how to cope with the death of a parent, sibling or other significant person. An average of 150 grieving children, teens and their families attend peer support programs each week at no cost. Ele’s Place also provides support groups in schools and clinical consultations for grieving families.
For more information, visit www.elesplace.org or for information on the campaign www.elesplaceannarbor.org.
