A team of contractors and building suppliers volunteered their time and materials to restore the Valerie’s House location in Punta Gorda following hurricanes Helene and Milton.
While the nonprofit’s main house, which serves as a meeting place and counseling center for youth grieving the loss of a close family member, had minimal damage from the hurricanes, its teen and counseling building near the rear of the property sustained flooding. Milton delivered 18 inches of flood water.
Valerie’s House Charlotte County Director Tara Zajas said hiring contractors to repair the damage would have cost the nonprofit “tens of thousands of dollars.”
Valerie’s House is located in a 1921 historic home at 223 E. McKenzie St. The house underwent renovations after the organization purchased it in October 2023. It opened to Charlotte County children and teens in January 2024.
For several years, Charlotte County’s Valerie’s House was without a permanent meeting place of its own, and local children and their families along with counselors and volunteers met at First United Methodist Church in Punta Gorda.
New Era Custom Carpentry LLC provided new walls and drywall installation, while Simplified Building Solutions LLC donated new wall materials. Frontline Cleaning & Coating provided new flooring materials and installation and MTY Construction donated drywall materials after Helene and supported current repairs after Milton.
The new materials will harden the structure against future storms, as its new epoxy concrete and flooring that was donated and installed after Helene remained intact after Milton’s flooding and only required cleaning.
There is still more work to be done. The swimming pool was filled with muck and other debris. Valerie’s House seeks to fill in the pool with concrete and use the area as an outdoor gathering place. The organization plans to host fundraisers to cover the costs, Zajas said.
Valerie’s House resumed its regularly scheduled nightly grief support groups for children and adults.
“We are grateful that our home is still standing, and repairs have been completed in such a short period of time, all thanks to the hard work of our Punta Gorda staff, supporters and business leaders who care about the Valerie’s House mission of helping grieving children,” said Angela Melvin, who founded the nonprofit and opened its first location in Fort Myers in 2016.
Melvin was inspired to start the organization because of her own experience of losing her mother when she was 10. She began the organization to provide a safe, comfortable place for children to share, grieve and heal together.
Since its founding, Valerie’s House has served more than 5,000 children and their families in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Escambia counties.
