Turning materials into memories

It all started with a phone call from Vicki Scalzitti, manager of the children's grief program at Rainbow Hospice. She was looking to put together a door-themed project for the upcoming family camp and was reaching out to the Mount Prospect Home Depot for help in supplying materials.

The goal was to figure out a way to allow nearly 50 children, parents, and guardians to express on one side, the raw emotion of their loss "closing the door" on their physical connection to a loved one, and on the other side, to express their hopes as they moved through the door to a new chapter in their lives.

Luckily, Vicki's request landed in the lap of Nashia Sehovic, assistant store manager for the Mount Prospect Home Depot. After hearing the story, they did so much more than simply provide materials. Sehovic's heart went out and she, alongside their Pro Desk supervisor, Armondo Villela, took the reins of the project.

"Once we heard the story, we just knew we had to take over," said Sehovic, "This was a project we knew we could put together and it was for a great cause."

Sehovic and Villela engaged other members of the Mount Prospect Home Depot staff, and together formed a small crew who donated time outside of their jobs to help cut, sand, paint, and attach hardware to a host of small doors. Their work took them through the night, past 2 a.m. to finish the job in the days before the camp.

In the end, Sehovic and Villela personally donated nearly 40 small doors and even a last minute addition of pink bubble wrap to make sure they survived their trip to the children's camp in Dixon. There, the handcrafted doors became blank slates for some even more important work.

The Good Mourning Family Camp is one of the flagship events of the Good Mourning Program for children, teens and families. Alongside regular group meetings, a holiday gathering, and a Grief in Schools crisis response program, Good Mourning Camp provides a safe and nurturing place for children to connect with others who have faced life-changing losses. At the same time, Good Mourning also provides a unique support system for parents and guardians who are caring for children while at the same time coming to terms with their own feelings of grief and loss.

At the end of September, camp was once again held for children and families throughout the Chicago area. Children, teens, parents, and guardians from all different backgrounds came together. They were from all over the Northwest suburbs, Chicago, and beyond, but everyone was there for the same reason - to heal.

There, the doors lovingly crafted by Sehovic and Villela became the first projects for campers. They inspired families to think back to the time when the door closed on the person they loved. The loss of a father or a mother, of a sister or a son. Each person's loss was reflected in the intricately cut rain drops or goodbyes written in black felt pen on the stark white doors.

After a powerful weekend of projects, stories, and some tears, the families returned to their doors, flipping them over and using the other side to visualize hope. The final project of camp was titled Opening to Hope. Families were asked to decorate the other side of their door with an image of where they were today, or where they wanted to be as they move forward. Here, sunlight, stars, and rainbows filled the tables as families reflected on their visions for the future. One door simply read, "Do more of what makes you happy."

With over a quarter century of service to the community, Good Mourning has helped more than 5,000 children and families along their path through grief and loss. Thanks to the amazing generosity of people like Sehovic and Villela, Good Mourning has been able to provide those services nearly free of charge to all of those families and the result this year, and every year, is that another grieving child finds, and opens their very own door to hope.

Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care is one of the oldest and largest nonprofit hospices serving the communities of the greater Chicago area. Through hospice services, palliative care, extensive bereavement support, and community and professional education, Rainbow Hospice provides a host of resources to help bring comfort, dignity and understanding just as it has done for more than 30 years. In 2013, Rainbow Hospice served more than 11,500 people through its spectrum of programs.

As the longest continuously running, most family-focused children's bereavement program in Illinois, Good Mourning has served thousands of children and their families from all over Chicago and even from neighboring states. As part of Rainbow Hospice's mission to serve the community, nearly all services are provided free of charge. For information or to contact the Good Mourning program, visit www.RainbowHospice.org/GM.

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