150 Olde Greenwich Dr., Suite 102, Fredericksburg, VA 22408 (540) 371-2704 | (800) 684-6423 mhafred@mhafred.org

MHAF Healing Grove – Ribbon Cutting

Oct 5, 2018 | Blog, MHAfred Events

Please join us for a ribbon cutting on Friday, November 2 at 4:30 PM. Free and open to all.

Mental Health America of Fredericksburg Healing Grove in Memorial(Kenmore) Park at Kenmore Avenue and Monroe Street in Fredericksburg, VA

May You Find Solace and Peace in this Healing Grove.

The Mental Health America of Fredericksburg Healing Grove exists to give people a place to go (in nature) to find peace, solace, and healing.

A Little Background

Mental Health America of Fredericksburg (MHAF) has been offering suicide prevention education to Fredericksburg area teens since 2014.

We use a curriculum call SOS (Signs of Suicide). In the 2017 – 2018 school year, we presented to almost 4000 teens (7th and 9th grade students) to teach them how to identify the signs and symptoms of depression and suicide – and more importantly – what to do about it. 

Three people (Amy Jones, Christina Ferber and August Donahue) have organized “The Another Day Campaign for Suicide Prevention” and put on the Another Day Walk to support the MHAF Suicide Prevention Education (SPE) program.

100 % of the funds they raise stay here in this community to provide SPE to our teens!

The Another Day Team decided that they wanted to do more than just raise funds – they wanted to raise suicide awareness, and offer hope and healing – and the idea of the Healing Grove was born!

People Involved

  • August Donahue came up with the idea following the 2017 Another Day Walk.
  • Christina Ferber wrote the proposal to the City of Fredericksburg.
  • Tree Fredericksburg (Anne and Carl Little) designed the Healing Grove and selected trees that symbolize healing.
  • Jane Shelhorse and Mike Ward of the City of Fredericksburg Parks, Recreation and Events Department worked with us to find a location and get the proposal approved.
  • Jerry and Donna Ulman (Ulman Jewelers) donated the funds for the park bench that people will be able to use (when they go to the park) to find peace and solace.
  • Walter Bouchard donated the funds for the first of eight trees. 
  • Carol Westphall, a retired mental health professional, is donating her time to offer nature based mindfulness programing.
  • The City Parks, Recreation and Events department is working with us to handle the registration process for people who want to attend the Nature Based Mindfulness programming.