From Our House To Yours Spring 2013

Program Updates ....................................................page 2 Volunteer Spotlight - Kristen Steigerwald ...........page 3 Olivia’s House Events ............................................page 4Community Partners ..............................................page 5 The Backpack of Healing .......................................page 6Losing Everything ...................................................page 6Companion Training ...............................................page 7 Volunteer Appreciation ..........................................page 7Commemorative Bricks ..........................................page 8

Inside This Issue

Founder’s MessageWe are busy as bees in a hive! That is funny, since I am allergic to bees and, once upon a time, the sight of a bee could trigger a panic attack in me! This is very similar to the ways in which the parents of our program children react when they see their children struggling with their bereavement - they panic! Often, parents have been lulled into a false sense of security that their children were not affected by the death of their loved one, only to find that indeed the death did affect them. More often than not, it affects them profoundly! Many times, they not only need support from Olivia”s House, but also from professionals whom we have identified as our “adjunct specialists.” These specialists are adept at working with children who are suffering from anxiety, trauma or stress disorders. We are

fortunate that these specialists have all trained with Olivia’s House to meld our bereavement education into their fields of mental health support.

Know that, should your child need additional support beyond the natural support that education provides, Olivia’s House makes it possible for that to happen. We have been blessed by a wonderful group known as Sunshine’s Angels, who raise funds and make our adjunctive support possible. We think it is fitting that as the sunny days are again upon us, Sunshine’s Angels make it possible for children to smileagain!

Blessings,

Leslie Delp, MA

Spring 2013

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ProgramsFrom Our House To Yours Spring 2013

The programs are always providing the staff with great opportunities to learn. We can proudly proclaim that the entire staff has now worked as Companions in a group and that we all know firsthand just what it means to walk along with a child who is mourning! Since the new year began, we have met wonderful families, learned valuable lessons from the children, and shared much support with the community in schools and local civic groups. We have graduated 16 children in our Hearts Can Heal group and another five in our Little Ones preschool age group. Thanks to our friend Jim Plessinger at Suburban Bowlerama, we have enjoyed a WINGS bowling event on a Saturday afternoon in March. We have worked to support a local school as they mourned the loss of a beloved member of their PTO, and we have spent some meaningful hours sharing the message of our mission with the Shiloh Home Economics Group... All in all, the message is clear: we have spent our best hours with the children AND adults of our community!

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Volunteer SpotlightFrom Our House To Yours Spring 2013

Our Volunteer in the Spotlight is Kristen Steigerwald. Kristen came to Olivia’s House as a program family member after the death of her husband, Bob. She and her sons are alumni of our Hearts Can Heal program and, as such, have been a wonderful voice to others concerning the benefits of our programs. Their team, “Best of Bob,” recently earned the honor of becoming the 2012 Walk To Remember Championship Team, raising over $7,000. They have begun working towards winning the trophy again this year! Kristen serves as a member of our Alumni Relations Committee, working to support new alumni families at Olivia’s House. We are blessed by her efforts and by her commitment to this mission!

How did you discover Olivia’s House? I discovered Olivia’s House after my hus-band Bob died from cancer in December 2008. I knew about Olivia’s House in the community but was given more informa-tion through the Cancer Center counselor at Apple Hill. Our family did a tour about a month after Bob died and then we went through the Hearts Can Heal program a couple classes later. What are some of your interests?My biggest personal interests are reading and exercising- my gym, Unique Physique has been a huge support to me. What is something that others may not know about you? Something others may not know about me is that I follow politics quite closely and had been a Legislative Aide in the New York State Legislature after college. What do you love most about volunteering?My favorite part of volunteering for Olivia’s House is knowing that the effort I put in goes to such a wonderful place that provides such an important service to grieving families in our community. I loved heading our team that honored Bob in the Walk to Remember last September and loved knowing that all the money raised would support the programs of Olivia’s House. What is one thing that can always be found in your refrigerator?I’m trying to be on a healthy eating kick so my refrigerator has a lot of fruits and vegetables in it.

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Olivia’s House EventsFrom Our House To Yours Spring 2013

The Olivia’s House 11th Annual Olivian Gala & Auction will take place at the Country Club of York on Saturday, June 8, 2013. The black-tie optional affair features a lavish cocktail reception, a formal dinner, a fantastic lifestyles auction, and hours of music from The Antares Musicians. Since its inception over ten years ago, the Olivian Gala has raised over $500,000 for children’s grief education and bereavement services in south central Pennsylvania.

This year’s Auction will feature some amazing items, including: fine art, dining and entertainment gift certificates, sporting event tickets and collectibles, furniture, vacations and weekend getaways, jewelry, and much more.

In addition to the auction, participants will also have a chance to purchase a key that may unlock a box that in-cludes a beautiful piece of diamond jewelry. There will also be a photo booth to capture the fun that everyone is sure to have!

Sponsors of the 11th annual Olivian Gala and Auction include: The John Lynam Family, The Stambaugh Family, Apple Automotive Group, AseraCare Hospice Foundation, Marino Family Foundation, Butler Gingerich & Company, Gamlet Inc., Glatfelter Insurance Group, The Law Firm of Douglas Bare, M&T Bank, RBS Wealth Management, Visiting Angels, WiseKraft Solution LLC, Bellomo & Associates, Butera the Florist, ITP of USA, MediaOnePA, PeoplesBank, Steve Horning-State Farm Agent, York ENT, and York Traditions Bank.

Olivia’s House is holding its second annual Walk to Remember at John Rudy County Park on September 28, 2013. The Walk to Remember is a community event, consisting of teams between five and ten people. Teams form and raise money to benefit Olivia’s House. The teams then come out to the Walk on September 28 to celebrate each team’s success and to walk in memory of our loved ones. At the Walk, there will be many fun activities for people of all ages, and prizes will be awarded to the top fundraising teams.

We will never forget our friends and family members who have passed away. This will be a meaningful opportunity to honor those who are no longer with us. As we walk down “Memory Lane” as a community, it will be an event you and your team will not want to miss.

Together, we hope to raise over $50,000 to benefit the children of Olivia’s House. This event will be held rain or shine.

Sponsors of the event include: Gettle, Inc., North Metal Chemicals, Vicki Friedman, and MediaOne PA. For more information on Olivia’s House or the Walk to Remember please call 699-1133.

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Community Partners

Bright Smiles for

To schedule an appointment or for more information call

717-792-0484 or visit docblevins.com

Heal a Childs Heart - Brighten Your Smile

Teeth Whitening to Bene�t Olivia’s House

www.oliviashouse.org

Dr. John Blevins, D.D.S. is offering teeth whitening services to bene�t the mission of Olivia’s House.

The professional teeth whitening procedure is painless with quick results.

100% of your $100 fee bene�ts grieving children and their families in South Central Pennsylvania.

This is going to be a very busy summer for Olivia’s House and its Community Partners. Here are a few Community Partner events that will benefit Olivia’s House this summer:

• June 1 - Mason Lodge Barbeque • June 1 - The McFatridge Family Pit Beef Sale • June 8 - Smith Bros. Car Show• June 23 - Vibes in the Vineyard • July 21 - The 10th Annual Devin Bunner Memorial Golf Tournament • August 24- Hearts Can Heal Charity Ride

More information on all of the above Community Partners can be found at our website- www.oliviashouse.org.

Thanks to our community partners, hope to see you at one of these events!!

From Our House To Yours Spring 2013

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The Backpack of HealingWhen Karla, a school psychologist, wrote Leslie to ask for support following the tragic shooting in her elementary school, Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT, we got to work. Leslie brought together a highly-skilled team of specialists to provide support to Karla and her staff. Karla was concerned that once the trauma teams left, she would be lost should a child need specific, longterm bereavement support. Our team gathered resources from The Centering Corporation and from their own private practice repertoire of activities to give Karla a “back pack of healing” for the days when nothing else works. Filled with activities like “the burden bag”, rituals like “let it go“ and games like “Dog-gone Grief”, it will be a great trauma emergency kit. We are putting the finishing touches on the teachers manual now and will get it in their hands by the beginning of the coming school year. We are grateful to Karen Stabley, Betsy Craft, Patti Schlough, Laura Tauzin, Carol Swift, Rich Erdlin, and Terry Riley for their ideas, energy and talents.

Losing EverythingLeslie Delp, Founder and Bereavement Specialist at Olivia’s House, was asked to speak at the Hershey Medical Center Remembrance Ceremony in April about the very sensitive topic of losing your only child or all your children. Entitled “Losing Everything,” this lecture addressed the loss and how it is excruciating because you not only lose your only child or all of your children...you lose your parenthood as well. This loss bears the ques-tion, “Am I still a parent?”

Leslie spoke to a group of adults who have all suffered this unbearable loss and offered suggestions of support while helping them learn to find meaning in their pain. Each year the Medical Center holds a special day of education and support for families who have utilized their services and who have had a child die. Speakers shared wisdom on several subjects, and a heartwarming remembrance slide show was shared by families. This is the fourth year that Olivia”s House has participated in the event.

From Our House To Yours Spring 2013

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Companion TrainingHow can Olivia’s House manage to offer no-cost services to families and still afford to keep their doors open? It is simple: we rely on volunteers - that is, volunteers who are trained by an expert in bereavement so that they feel comfortable with their role of “professional listener” to the children! We are blessed by the incredible folks who have volunteered to listen and converse with our grieving children in the programs for over 20 years. The training which provides that level of expertise involves 12 hours of learning. We play games, listen to music, watch videos and tour the Kuhner Funeral Home across the street, to be the best volunteer Companions we can be. Each two-day training is open to only 15 volunteers. Our next training is scheduled for two consecutive Saturdays, August 3 and August 10, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. To volunteer, please contact Michelle at 717-699-1133.

Volunteer AppreciationApril is traditionally observed as the month that honors volunteers. In keeping with that beautiful sentiment, Olivia’s House began what we hope will be a tradition: we are holding a special volunteer luncheon, complete with a meal cooked by the staff for the volunteers who attend. We plan to invite five volunteers each quarter to enjoy a special lunch including homemade soup, salad and dessert! We use the fine china, provided by our dear friends, Fred and Naomi Werner. We complete the table with flowers and candles. Our volunteers make it possible for us to provide quality service to our community’s grieving children, and we are grateful. This is but a small token of appreciation for all they give to our mission. Every volunteer will receive an invitation and, although it will take us time to get to everyone, each vol-unteer, in time, will sit at our table and be thanked by our staff! This quarter we were blessed to host Steve Horning, Carol Shapiro, Patrick O’Clair and Jess Delp. These folks have volunteered in a variety of ways: as committee members, companions, interns, and more. We are only as good as our volunteers and, fortunately for us, they are the best!

From Our House To Yours Spring 2013

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Follow us...

The brick pathway along the Healing Garden of Olivia’s House York is a place that literally speaks to all who walk there. The names that are engraved in these bricks are not silent.

The Healing Garden is a beautiful area. The bricks visibly honor loved ones, both past and present, and serve as a gentle reminder of how often they are remembered and how much they are loved. Tribute bricks not only serve as a permanent celebration of friends and family, but they also provide building

Commemorative Bricks

blocks for the future of Olivia’s House. Bricks are donated for all occasions that fill our lives - birthdays, graduations, marriages, holidays, accomplishments, retirements, as well as final trib-utes. Behind each tribute gift there is a story about courage, loyalty, and love.

You can purchase a brick to keep the Garden’s work alive and growing. With a seventy-five dollar minimum donation, your personalized brick will be viewed and enjoyed for years to come.

Anyone who purchases a brick will be invited to a brick placement ceremony held at Olivia’s House York. Every tribute brick with its personal inscription becomes a part of Olivia’s House when it is placed within our pathway.

To purchase a commemorative brick, visit www.oliviashouse.org or call Olivia’s House York at 699-1133. The deadline to purchase a brick this year is June 3rd.

From Our House To Yours Spring 2013