Full circle: Eagles support grieving families in Southwest Florida
- Laurie Dionne Babcock
- Alumni
- Contributors: James Greco, Photos | Rob Salazar, Video
6 – minute read
When Emely Calderon Villatoro crossed the graduation stage at Florida Gulf Coast University in May, she carried more than a bachelor’s degree in social work. She carried a promise she had made to her mother 11 years earlier.
“My mom always wanted the best for me and my sisters,” said Calderon Villatoro, a first-generation college graduate who is now pursuing her master of social work at FGCU. “I promised myself and her that I would make sure to go to college, graduate and make her proud.”
Her mother, Meri Calderon, died when Calderon Villatoro was 11 years old. Two years passed before she attended a peer support group.
“Honestly, I’m thankful that 13-year-old me made that decision,” she said. “I don’t think I would have been able to talk about my mom now if it wasn’t for Valerie’s House.”
A houseful of FGCU grads
Valerie’s House is a nonprofit that provides grief support to children and families at no cost. Since opening in Fort Myers in 2016, it has served more than 7,000 children, teens, young adults and caregivers and expanded to three Southwest Florida locations, according to Justin LaVerdiere (’17, communication), Valerie’s House communications manager.
For Calderon Villatoro, the organization not only helped her navigate her loss — it has launched her career. She now serves as its volunteer and program engagement coordinator.
She and LaVerdiere aren’t the only Eagles supporting the Valerie’s House mission. In fact, 11 FGCU alumni with diverse degrees work there full time alongside current students serving as volunteers, ambassadors and interns. For some, including Calderon Villatoro, the journey has come full circle: The children and teens who once received support now help guide other grieving families.
“FGCU graduates are helping lead our counseling team, our programs, our communications, our volunteer efforts — they’re really a huge part of the reason we’re able to provide support to grieving children and families across Southwest Florida at no cost,” says LaVerdiere.
Valerie’s House, in turn, gives back by investing in students. Since 2019, the organization has awarded 29 scholarships to 21 FGCU students, totaling $62,500, he says.
Eagles making a difference
One of the other Eagles on the leadership team is counseling director Alexa Venski (’04, master’s in clinical mental health counseling). A Southwest Florida native who grew up in Cape Coral and Fort Myers, Venski was part of the first accredited cohort of Marieb College of Health & Human Services’ clinical mental health counseling master’s program. Today, she oversees counseling services for families across the region.
Another Eagle making an impact is Ashley Wong, a junior communication major from Fort Myers. Like Calderon Villatoro, Wong first came to Valerie’s House after a devastating loss — her mother died when Wong was 16 years old.
“There were no other kids in my school who had lost a parent at that time, so I struggled to find others who could relate to me,” Wong said. “I felt lonely and isolated.”
Initially, she wanted nothing to do with a support group.
“I dreaded going,” she said. “I never spoke and would just sit and listen to others.”
But gradually, she began opening up.
“I quickly learned that Valerie’s House was nothing like my expectations. I had peers who I could talk to, and they would listen, relate back and even give advice. I felt heard and understood during group.”
Correcting misconceptions about grief
Wong now serves as a teen and young adult ambassador and helps manage the organization’s social media. One of her first TikTok videos had more than 500,000 views. She believes the response relates to addressing a universal experience.
“Many of the people who interacted with it had some sort of connection to grief and loss,” Wong said. “I think it resonated so strongly with others because they could relate to the video and empathize.”
Through social media, Wong hopes to challenge common misconceptions that “grief support is only for people who just recently experienced loss, and that asking for help shows weakness,” she said.
Instead, she wants grieving young people to know they are not alone.
“Even just seeing a video and finding a resource like Valerie’s House can help show them they’re not alone and that resources are available to them.”
Connections ease the journey
For both Wong and Calderon Villatoro, FGCU offered a way to stay connected to the Southwest Florida community that supported them through loss. Calderon Villatoro chose FGCU to remain close to family while staying involved with Valerie’s House. Wong transferred to FGCU after attending a university in Idaho and realizing how much she missed the support system she’d built at home.
“The people who truly do understand the confusion and the wild emotions during grief” are the people from Valerie’s House, Wong said.
Calderon Villatoro often reflects on her mother, who loved drawing flowers, adored animals and whose laugh could be heard from afar.
“It’s so special when I’m able to talk about her,” she said.
And that’s exactly what she hopes others will discover through grief support — that the people they have lost remain part of their stories.
“If I could say something to someone who has experienced loss but is feeling hesitant of peer support groups, I would say that grief is not something you have to go through alone,” she said. “Connection and friendship can make this journey a little bit easier to navigate.”