Last Sunday, we hosted a “Service Day in Memory of Michael Bohme” at The WARM Place. Not only was this a great opportunity to help beautify The WARM Place by planting trees and flowers, but more importantly, it was a special day to remember why and how The WARM Place began…
In 1984, Peggy and Lee Bohme lost their son, Michael, in the fight against cancer. While mourning his death, Peggy realized that her nine-year-old daughter, Meghan, needed a place to feel loved and supported as she grieved the death of her brother. Meghan after a period of time would ask her mom and dad “why they had to stay so sad and why everything was different.” She was told, we are remembering your brother. Her response was, “What about remembering me?” and thus the idea for The WARM Place was born! At that time, there was no place in Texas that supported grieving children. So Peggy and a couple close friends, Barbara Greer and Laurie Kemble, actually went to visit a grief support center for children in Portland, Oregon called The Dougy Center.
After realizing that North Texas needed such an organization to help children feel supported on their grief journey, Peggy Bohme partnered with Dr. John Richardson and the two committed to open a children’s grief support center in Fort Worth. On August 24, 1989, their mission and vision became a reality when The WARM (What About Remembering Me) Place opened its doors to eight families. June 1st 2014 was the 30th anniversary of Michael’s death which also means that this year, we are celebrating our 25th anniversary.
Since we opened our doors in 1989…
- We have loved and companioned over 30,000 children on their grief journey with the help of our dedicated volunteers
- No family has ever been asked for or charged a fee to participate in our grief support program, making it accessible to anyone
- We have established new groups to meet the needs of our clients. Most recently we added a monthly sibling loss group in the Fall of 2013 for children on the waiting list who were grieving the death of a brother or sister
- We have grown from serving eight families our very first night to serving more than 230 families a year
- More than 300 volunteers donate their time to serve all 376 children currently enrolled here at The WARM Place
On August 23, 2014, we will celebrate our 25th anniversary and host “A Cool Night to find the kid in you,” our annual signature fundraising event, and honor our two founders—Peggy Bohme and Dr. John Richardson.
We look forward to honoring them, celebrating all that has been accomplished since we opened our doors in 1989, and kicking off the next 25 years to help even more children find hope and healing!
– Katie Lane, Development Associate
