Wallace secures $500k for establishment of WNY family grief center
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Assemblymember Monica Wallace on Sunday announced that a new family grief center is scheduled to be established in Western New York.
Wallace reportedly secured $500,000 to help P.U.N.T. Pediatric Cancer Collaborative establish the center under its Ultimate Compassion Program.
For those who have lost a child, a sibling, a parent or somebody dearest to them — P.U.N.T. says these funds will connect families who are navigating through one of the worst roads you can walk down.
According to Wallace’s office, the center has been inspired by models from other states and will be “a regional resource for kids, teens, and parents, providing programming, counseling, emotional support, and peer-to-peer support for children and families grieving from the death of a loved one.”
These secured funds from the state assembly will help establish the first steps for a family grief center for our region. Something that families who face the hardships of grief every day say is much needed here in our community.
“There’s not really a lot of organized places where parents can go,” said Mike Augustyn and Katherine Evans, who lost their son Michael in 1995. “This will be a wonderful asset to the community to know that there’s something in place for everyone.”
Chris Taggart, who lost his 17-year-old daughter Lauren in a car accident said, “The more and more you can talk to people that share the same things that you’ve gone through and the more you can talk to professionals, the better this will be and the better our community will be.”
Though this is an initial step for the center, P.U.N.T. and Wallace hope this support will spark others to help in raising money to help our grieving neighbors.
“I think once we start showing the impact of this, we can build the case for more funding in the future,” said Wallace.
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