September Newsletter * Tu Nidito

Dear Friends,

Happy September.

We are welcoming our families back to group, after our summer schedule, by adding an additional night to our Children to Children bereavement support group program. The need for our programs is greater now than ever before and we are determined to grow to meet our community’s needs. We will have a full NEST every Monday through Thursday evenings.

We have made some changes to our team. Amanda Marks MSW, has assumed the leadership role of Program Director. Amanda has served Tu Nidito families for more than 15 years and we are thrilled to have her shift her role to leading our program team and guiding our support services. Kristin Harrison has been promoted to Assistant Program Director as she assumes greater responsibility in program operations, curriculum development, mentoring and outreach. We welcome, Celina Grajeda to the team as our Bilingual Support Specialist, working with all of our Spanish speaking clients and families. Celina will lead our Wednesday Children to Children Support Groups. Danielle Celaya, a former Tu Nidito participant and current volunteer has come on staff to lead our Tuesday CTC support groups and Anthony Cicchino will transition to staff lead of our Young Adult support group. I am grateful to have these additional team members help deliver our mission to the community.

This past month we have been honored to have teams from Banner, TMC and Southern Arizona Children’s Advocacy Center tour Tu Nidito and learn ways to strengthen our partnerships. We hosted the Girls Mentoring Group from Goodwill for an afternoon of sharing and connection.

We celebrated the arrival of our long-awaited climbing structure. We are so grateful to the Tucson Conquistadores for making this a reality for our kids. Also, we are excited to share our very own Telephone of the Wind with our families. The Telephone of the Wind was the focus of our intergenerational summer curriculum stemming from the book of the same name. Family members are given the opportunity to make a phone call to their loved one who has died and share thoughts and feelings with them. For some participants this was the first time they found healing. One young adult shared that she missed a phone call from her father the day before he completed suicide and she never had the chance to talk with him. The telephone of the wind gave her the chance. She shared that it really helped her. Thanks to the help of some special donors and volunteers the Telephone is mounted and ready to use.

It has been a busy and gratifying summer and we are all ready for fall.

Sincerely,

Liz McCusker,

Executive Director

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Here at Tu Nidito we know that everyday should be childhood cancer awareness day as more and more children are battling the diagnosis. Our roots are in the work of supporting children with a cancer diagnosis, our name Tu Nidito comes from one of our very first clients Jimmy Busey who battled a rare form of cancer and whose mother, Teri, created a “little nest” on the living room sofa, where he could rest and find comfort.

Today, children on a cancer journey are the primary focus of our Pathways program. Pathways is for children with a serious medical condition and their siblings and caregivers. Each family member copes with the illness differently. We tailor our support services to meet each individual where they are on their journey.

One older sister whose little brother has cancer found the support she needed through our Pathways program. She had a constant fear of her brother dying and this fear was causing nightmares and anxiety. With support from our Tu Nidito specialist she was able to articulate and process this fear giving it less control over her life. There is also the mother whose son has cancer and has spent weeks upon weeks in the hospital and finds support and comfort from our support specialist hospital visits and conversations. And of course, there are those children who beat their cancer and close out of our support services by
sharing their heartfelt messages of love for those on our team who supported them through their journey.

We are also the support team for those healthcare providers who are on the frontlines with children who have cancer. Over the past year the Pediatric Oncology Team has experience so much death that they too needed our support. Our team was able to provide a workshop to help them open up and acknowledge and share their grief. This is something they had never done before. We will be back to support them in their time of grief and need.

Childhood cancer impacts our community and our families in so many different ways and our work is to be present, to listen, to support and provide comfort and hope along the journey.

What's Happening at The Nest...

Magic Breath Read by Sophia Dunne

New Climbing Structure & Telephone of the Wind!

Thank You Dueling Piano Sponsors!

After 4 years we decided to bring back our much-loved Dueling Pianos event. We are grateful to our Piano sponsors Gadabout Salon and Spa and Dental Pros for coming onboard to ensure the event is a success. Joining them as returning sponsors are Bourn Companies, Hazen Enterprises. We welcome our new sponsors, The Lapan Sunshine Foundation, Adriana and Jose Rincon and Si Charro. Together with an additional 150 guests, Dueling Pianos is set to rock the Arts Express Theater on Friday, September 8th . The Arts Express Theater company under the helm of Karen and Weise are wonderful hosts and community partners. We encourage to check out one of their productions.