We provide free grief support for children, teens and adults through peer support groups in schools, in our building and through community-based programming. We also help educators, caregivers and professionals feel more prepared through grief education focused on childhood bereavement.
Grief doesn’t really make sense until you’ve lived it. And once you do, you realize how much support matters, especially for kids.
After a death, grief can feel all-encompassing. Adults are trying to hold everything together while they’re grieving themselves, and children often don’t have the language or space to process what they’re carrying.
Dustin’s Place is named in memory of Dustin Cullen, a Believer who lived his life as a testament to God’s grace. Dustin loved his family and friends completely. He was the husband of Viki (Cullen) Brown and the father of Caythan, Liliana and Dean Cullen.
In 2016, Dustin died in a single-car fatal accident. Viki became a young widow, working to care for and rebuild life with three small children — 6 years old, 5 years old and 11 months old.
They were surrounded by love from family and friends, but it was still clear: grief support and ongoing care were needed. Viki and her children attended a children’s grief support group together and they immediately felt the connection that happens when grieving families are in the same room. In October 2018, Viki and some of Dustin’s closest friends began the process of opening a children’s grief center in our own community. Dustin’s Place was founded in 2019 and began serving families shortly after. Today, Dustin’s Place provides free grief support through peer support group meetings where children and their families can gather with trained, compassionate volunteer facilitators, people who choose to stand alongside others and be steady companions through grief.
Grief is personal, lifelong and real. We believe children and families deserve support that helps them feel seen, heard and connected.