About Gerard's House

How Gerard's House Began
Gerard’s House was started in the fall of 1997 by a group of bereaved parents who were attending a grief support group at Berardinelli’s Mortuary led by Sister Arlene. Many of the parents had teenage children who had died in the previous year. They realized that the siblings and friends of the teens who had died did not have a place to receive support. Sister Arlene knew of a place called the Dougy Center in Portland, Oregon that held support groups for children and teens. The group of parents worked together with Sister Arlene to raise some money, travel to the Dougy Center, and take the facilitator training. They returned to Santa Fe and started a grief support center named after Gerard Sanchez, a teenager who died in a car accident in 1996.

We started with a facilitator training in January of 1998, and held our first children's grief support groups in a one room facility run entirely by volunteers. Gerard’s House has continued to grow and is now in its fourth building

Today
Today, we have three part-time staff positions, a Board of Directors with eight members, an advisory council of ten members, and nineteen trained volunteer facilitators. We continue to train new volunteers on a yearly basis.

Camp Rainbow
In 2003, Gerard's House added a summer camp for children ages eight to eleven who have experienced the death of someone important in their lives. Though Gerard's House is not offering Camp Rainbow this year, we hope to include it in our future summer programs.

Outreach
Over the years, Gerard's House has reached thousands of people through presentations, trainings, and support. We regularly collaborate with schools and other organizations serving youth and families in Santa Fe and surrounding communities.

Gerard’s House is incorporated in New Mexico as a non-profit 501.3 (c) and does not charge for its services.