We were excited to host The Bluebonnet Council this year on April 12th at The WARM Place. The Bluebonnet Council is a yearly gathering of regional agencies, predominantly Texas, that work with grieving children. The Bluebonnet Council began as an idea tossed around for several years at national conferences and agency visits. In 2010, what started as “The Texas Gathering” became the “Bluebonnet Council.” The first gathering was hosted by The WARM Place and had about a dozen participants. Several agencies continue to volunteer to host from year to year and we were honored to host again this year.
We enjoyed a welcome dinner the night before at Joe T. Garcia’s and had lots of fun catching up and meeting new friends. It was wonderful to reconnect with so many of our dedicated and caring colleagues. The Bluebonnet Council meeting started bright and early the next morning with breakfast and introductions at The WARM Place. Peggy Bohme, our co-founder, welcomed the group and shared TWP history. As a group we all shared some of our successes and challenges over the past year. We were so grateful to have Peggy join us for such a special day.
We were honored to hear from our morning speaker, Bret Helmer, President of the R4 Foundation to kick off our day with more inspiration and motivation. This time together was helpful and provided a beautiful reflection on hope and healing. This was followed by tours of our newly expanded space, lunch, and fellowship. Our colleagues enjoyed participating in break out sessions in the afternoon to discuss fundraising, communication, school support, community outreach, volunteer programming, peer support group activities, and special programs.
We wrapped up our day with a special self-care activity led by Dr. Lauri Atkins of Bumblebee Yoga and felt inspired and recharged. Throughout the day we did a special activity to reflect on something we need, something we learned, and something we will do in the future to continue to grow both personally and professionally. As we said goodbye to our colleagues, we were grateful for this time together and look forward to the next time we see each other. For many of us, this will be at the NACG Symposium this June, and we can’t wait to reconnect with this amazing group.
