Judy Pearson | Contributing Writer BILLY’S PLACE Honoring love and loss A 2ND ACT { survivors giving back } Becoming a widow at the age of 30 was not something Juli Schragel expected. But that was what happened when her husband, Mike, died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. Mike and Juli’s son, Billy, was only 15 months old at the time. Being an only child, Billy was advanced for his age. Around 3, he began noticing that other kids had daddies and he didn’t. And he let his mother know that the difference bothered him. Juli had attended an adult grief support group near their Illinois home that offered a program for children. “Once he started, I was amazed at how it helped,” Juli said. “Billy was 4½ when we moved to Arizona. The programs here were reluctant to take a child under 5. Making things more difficult was the fact that we live near Lake Pleasant, and there just weren’t resources in the West Valley. Even when he was old enough, it was a 40-minute, one-way drive to the sole children’s support group in Phoenix. It was hard to do at night and still maintain as normal a routine as possible.” Juli and her sister-in-law began having discussions about helping other families in the same boat. “Children heal differently from adults, and their needs change as they progress through different ages and stages,” Juli said. “We wanted to create a program that would do exactly what our mission now expresses: to provide support to children and families through their grief journey.” In 2012, they launched Billy’s Place, a grief resource center that not only provides support services for children ages 3 and up, but also acquaints parents with other services they may not know exist. A member of the National Alliance for Grieving Children, Billy’s Place has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception. As a team, Billy and Juli have worked together to use what they learned on their journey to help others know there is hope after the death of a loved one. The organization offers ongoing peer support groups for children, teens and young adults through play, art, storytelling, music and just simply hanging out and talking. Grief can cause children and teens to feel isolated and different from their friends. Peer support changes that. Knowing their thoughts and feelings are not unusual, and that they are not alone, helps them cope in their strange new world — one missing an important loved one. Groups are led 44 FRONTDOORS MEDIA | JANUARY 2019

Pillows is an activity that kids of all ages do at Billyʼs Place to deal with their emotions. One side of the pillow features happy messages and the other is used when they get mad. Kids are allowed to hit the pillow or yell into it to release their anger. Juli Schragel, founder of Billyʼs Place, with her son Billy at a Sunrise High School football game. Kids unwind at the dress-up station at Billyʼs Place.