Crista Brandt was just 11 years old when she lost her mother to cancer.
At her young age, she didn t know any other children going through the same experience, leaving her without any peers to help her cope with her grief.
That s why today as an adult, she is working to open Valerie s House Pensacola, a new chapter of a nonprofit grief center for children that started in Fort Myers. The Pensacola chapter of Valerie s House will open April 20 and provide peer-to-peer support groups. I didn t know anybody else who was going through the same thing that I was going through. And because of that, I didn t deal with grief in a very positive way, Brandt said. (We) just really want to give these children an opportunity to connect with others, and know that they re not alone, and help them work through their grief.