New Family Grief Center Will Open Its Doors In Ellenton In August

ELLENTON, FL — The Tidewell Family Grief Center in Ellenton, a first-of-its-kind facility in the region offering holistic grief support to individuals and families, will open its doors in August.

The Tidewell Foundation made a $1.1 million capital grant, which includes a lead gift from Walt and Renee Eppard, to Tidewell Hospice to create this new grief center, the foundation said in a news release.

Additional donor support is sought to complete the center’s outdoor interactive activity area, a multi-purpose green space including a labyrinth, basketball court, butterfly gardens and other features that will create experiences essential to the healing of mind, body and spirit for children and adults after losing a loved one, the foundation said.

Tidewell Hospice’s experience in helping more than 8,000 people navigate grief each year — particularly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic — informed and inspired the Center’s intentional design, the foundation said.

The grief center will be housed in Tidewell’s former Ellenton Hospice House, transforming it into a dedicated space facilitating the expansion of Tidewell’s grief services. The Ellenton location will serve as a pilot for future Tidewell Family Grief Centers across the region.

“People often feel lost and confused after the death of a loved one, facing difficult feelings that make coping and moving forward hard,” according to the news release. “Grief is an especially challenging experience for children, who are at an increased risk for depression, anxiety, truancy, eating disorders, alcohol and drug abuse, and even suicide without access to the treatment they need and opportunities to connect with others who share their trauma.”

In the Suncoast region alone, one in 13 children will lose one or both parents before reaching the age of 18, the foundation said. The Tidewell Family Grief Center in Ellenton will be a safe space where everyone feels heard, validated and supported in their grief journey.

Tidewell Family Grief Center clients will have access to opportunities to meet their own grief needs, whether through one-on-one sessions, groups, art therapy, meditation or alternative therapies.

It will also create space for a new expansion of Tidewell’s Blue Butterfly program, the region’s only evidence-based grief program for children ages 5 to 18 and families who have experienced the loss of a parent, sibling or another significant person in their lives. Through these services — all provided at no cost through donations to the Tidewell Foundation — Tidewell Hospice will help people through some of their darkest days as they seek to find light and healing.

“The lives Tidewell Hospice has brightened through one-on-one adult bereavement sessions and support groups as well as programs such as Blue Butterfly affirms the benefits of our holistic, evidence-based approach to treating grief and the need for a place providing this care to those who need it most,” Jonathan Fleece, President and CEO of Tidewell Hospice and President of Empath Health, said. “That knowledge has molded the new Tidewell Family Grief Center in Ellenton, creating a welcoming place of comfort and healing for members of our community coping with loss. Our hope is this Ellenton location is the first of several Tidewell Family Grief Centers in our region, creating even greater access to vital grief services.”

Donations can be made to the Tidewell Family Grief Center here.