Desert Blooms Grief Center

06/17/2026

Hello everyone! We decided to make a little video for you. Here, you get to see a bit of the space we use for our bi-weekly peer grief support groups for children and teens as well as what our 9-11 age group got to do last night activity-wise. The theme was self-esteem, and they had so much fun as we brought awareness to how they feel and should feel about themselves. Like, love and share for others to see who may need support! Thank you, all!

06/11/2026

How did this structure of support, children's peer grief support groups, first come about?

It all started in 1982 with a 13-year old boy named Dougy Turno who'd had an inoperable brain tumor. Dougy was said to have wanted to talk about what he was going through, however, he sensed the adults in his life didn't know how to talk to him about the fact that he was dying, or were uncomfortable with it. So, he wrote to none other than the infamous psychiatrist and researcher, Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, asking her, "Why won't anyone talk with me about dying?"

Dr. Kubler-Ross began to correspond with Dougy, and once he arrived in Portland to receive treatment, she connected him and his family with former nurse, Beverly Chappell. Beverly supported Dougy and his family during their time at the hospital, and while doing so, she observed the boy engaging in raw conversations with other children and teens facing their own advanced illnesses. He would ask them questions such as, "Do you think you'll live long enough to graduate from High School?" or "What will you miss the most?"

Beverly ultimately learned through Dougy that grieving children and teens have a need to and should be able to speak with others, their own age, who are facing similar circumstances. While Dougy died only two months after arriving in Portland, he inspired what would be a lasting and impactful legacy (I'd say so!) Beverly Chappell began hosting the first-ever peer grief support groups for children in her own home. The first group that ever met were four boys who'd each had their father die. They talked, played, and connected with one another in a way they couldn't with friends who'd never had such an experience.

Today, there are over 400 locations across the country practicing this model of support. Desert Blooms Grief Center was added to this number last year here in Las Cruces, founded by a woman who'd been through a program just like it in Michigan in 2003 following the death of her mother to ALS.

This program always tends to make a lasting difference from children being able to heal to going on to become volunteers of a program in the future, or a founder or both! To support our mission, visit desertbloomsgriefcenter.org

(Pictures are of Dougy Turno, Beverly Chappell, and the first children's grief group she held in her home. All provided by the Dougy Center)

06/06/2026

OUR TRIVIA FOR CHARITY FUNDRAISER JUST GOT MORE EXCITING! We have Iggy Samaniego confirmed as our host for that evening! Iggy has been in the comedy game for a while now, having toured with the highly rated "Latin Comedy Jam". When he's not doing comedy, Iggy is also a public and motivational speaker to at-risk youth.

With this new addition, tickets are likely to go, go, go, so get yours now and join us July 18th for a fun night out for an amazing cause!

Iggy Samaniego

06/04/2026

Each of our groups have plenty of room for more to join! If you have a child or teen navigating grief following the death of a loved one, consider signing them up for our children and teen's peer grief support groups. They're free of cost and meet every other week in a safe, inviting space with peers experiencing similar circumstances.

We're not a counseling/therapy service nor a replacement for it. We're simply an amazing, additional resource to your arsenal of support for your kiddo.

Find free, age-appropriate grief support groups for children, teens, and caregivers in Doña Ana County. Safe spaces to share, heal, and connect.

06/04/2026

It's Summer break for many kiddo's and teens. This could mean lots of idle time, less distraction from the grief but it's not meant to be avoided. There are lots of activities the family can do to remember and honor their loved one. Here's a Bingo sheet from the Dougy Center to start off, and they'll post activities weekly. See how many your kiddo's or teens can knock out this Summer!

Looking for summer activities to help honor and remember your person who died? We'll be posting activities weekly! Keep track of which ones you do with this summer activity bingo sheet. For more activities and resources to help kids and teens who are grieving, go to www.dougy.org/resources.

06/03/2026

Desert Blooms Grief Center would like to give a much-deserved and grateful shout-out to SpyderWebDev, owned and operated by Jaiden Navarrete and his team here in Las Cruces! They are responsible for the creation and around-the-clock maintaining of our beautiful website. Jaiden knew we were a new non-profit organization with an amazing cause trying to get on our feet just a little over a year ago, and though he did not have to, he chose to work with us in a big way.

Jaiden and the SpyderWebDev team provided seamless functioning, maintenance, and constant security of our website from June 2025 to 1 June of this year as an incredibly generous in-kind donation.

Thank you so much, again, Jaiden and the SpyderWebDev team for being a supporting partner to us from the very beginning. You're truly setting Las Cruces up for success one website at a time.

06/02/2026

Desert Blooms Grief Center has a feature in June's issue of STROLL magazine - Sonoma Ranch resident edition, starting on page 28!

Thank you to Stroll Las Cruces for the support and working so hard to get us in there! And to Jennifer Hayden, again, for graciously donating her space at the Wet Paint Art Studio for hosting our children's peer grief support groups, and for being willing to share our story!

Flipsnack is a digital catalog maker that makes it easy to create, publish and share html5 flipbooks. Upload a PDF or design from scratch flyers, magazines, books and more.

05/27/2026

Our Trivia for Charity event has been rescheduled to 18 July! We're trying not to interfere with a few major upcoming holidays. So, if you planned on joining us, there is nothing wrong with getting your tickets early. But at the very least, mark those calendars for a fun night with friends and drinks at Ice Box Brewing Co., beginning at 6:30PM. Prizes and bragging rights to be had!
Icebox Brewing Company

05/23/2026

The 2026 Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model (CBEM) reports have been released. This is why our program is essential to Las Cruces, and why your support matters.

New Mexico is #1 in the nation for childhood bereavement.

Every 1 our of 7 children are expected to lose a parent or sibling before the age of 18 and this number doubles by age 25.

Desert Blooms Grief Center is filling a significant gap in support in Las Cruces and we need your committed support. Like/follow our page, like/share our posts, donate or participate in our fundraisers. We have one coming up! See earlier posts. desertbloomsgriefcenter.org