Jessica’s House opens new Turlock facility. Therapeutic spaces include a time machine
Jessica’s House moved to its new Turlock facility this month, allowing the nonprofit to support more grieving families in a space six times bigger than its previous location.
Children, teenagers, young adults and their parents can process death in a dozen therapeutic spaces the previous house on Main Street did not have, such as a time machine room for reenacting memories.
Families also can start bringing children under 3 years old to the Christoffersen Parkway building, Executive Director Erin Nelson said, because it includes a room designed for them. At the rental house where the nonprofit operated since 2012, Nelson said support group programs started at age 3. If families did not have child care for babies, she said some were unable to participate.
“We always like to say that if a child is old enough to love, they’re old enough to grieve,” Nelson said.
Jessica’s House plans to begin hosting in-person support groups at the new facility in September, but has held a few family orientations. Staff have run programs online during the pandemic, Nelson said, and construction crews are finishing up a few areas. The nonprofit has planned for the 15,600-square-foot building since 2018, when its wait list for programs at its 2,200-square-foot rental sometimes grew long.
The organization, part of Emanuel Medical Center Health Inc., surpassed its community donation goal for the building and raised $6.5 million. Construction contractors also made in-kind donations. Mark Kirkes, chair of the building committee and a volunteer facilitator, said the building is better than envisioned.
New therapeutic spaces include a hospital playroom and time machine room to help children process trauma, re-create memories with a loved one or imagine the future. A time machine booth features date controls and flashing lights, while the hospital room is equipped with a bed and X-ray display.
At the low-ropes outdoor play area, children can connect and feel empowered as they hold onto each other to climb. Music and sand rooms provide ways to express grief in nonverbal ways, too.
“It just warms my heart to see how it came together and what the community did to raise the funds to build this beautiful building is awesome,” Kirkes said.
Turlock home helps grieving families
The new building also features a larger art room filled with supplies, said Gabrielle Sotomayor, a volunteer facilitator. The difference is surreal, Sotomayor said, and having more resources means more opportunities to support families.
“We’re not here to fix people,” Sotomayor said. “We’re not here to tell them how they should or shouldn’t feel. We’re just here to hear their stories, amplify their voices and really just make sure that they have a place where they feel like they can work through their grief.”
Jessica’s House works to teach healthy coping mechanisms right after the loss of a family member, Nelson said. Unsupported grief can lead children to struggle with anxiety and depression or cope in unhealthy ways, including alcohol and drug abuse.
The nonprofit places families in support groups with people of similar ages and types of loss. It offers programs for COVID-19 deaths, suicide and homicide and the loss of a parent, sibling, or infant, Nelson said.
Amy Plagenza and her 17-year-old daughter, Gabriella, are among the about 4,000 people who participated in programs at the previous building. The children’s area could get a bit crowded when they went between September 2019 and March 2020 after her husband died in a drowning accident, Plagenza said. Knowing more families can bond and find comfort at the new space is a great feeling, she said.
Through Jessica’s House, Plagenza said she met people to empathize and be vulnerable with after tragic loss. “That was support we really needed at a time when we really felt alone and lost,” Plagenza said. “And I’m so thankful that was there for myself and my daughter.”
Donors cover the costs for services at Jessica’s House. Supporting one child for a year costs about $1,500.
For additional information about the nonprofit’s support groups or to make a donation, visit www.jessicashouse.org or call 209-250-5395.
This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
