With families, there comes a time when you outgrow your house and simply need more room to do what you do – be a family. This is the case with the Erin’s House for Grieving Children family.

“The WING is so special because it will provide us with an additional 4,500 sq. ft. specifically designed for teens and young adults. A place that they can call their own.” -- Debbie Meyer, Executive Director at Erin's House for Grieving Children

We asked some of our current Erin’s House teens what their dream is for the new addition to Erin’s House. Mayah, age 15, is so thrilled to just have “a designated space to chill out.” Piper, age 17, didn’t skip a beat and answered with, “an ice cream machine, and also a soda machine. [I would like] any machine that you can have fun with and make a mess, because that’s what teenagers do.

In 2019, Erin’s House was selected as a recipient of the WOWO Penny Pitch funds. This started the plan to build a “teen-young adult house” for the organization, which will be called The WING. The project was put on hold due to COVID-19 constraints. At the annual Common Bond Breakfast 2023, we announced the “kick-off” of this capital campaign.

The WING will be adjacent to Erin’s House, in our backyard, increasing our program space by 29%. There will be three counseling rooms, a large program “hang-out” space, and a “quiet room."

Building Committee Chair, Chris Gomez, stated, “This project is so important for the mental health of our young adults in our community. One in eight children/young adults will be grieving the death of a sibling or parent in

2023--that’s 316,000 in Northeast Indiana.”