-"In the fall of 2007 my beautiful sister and very best friend Melissa, pictured here, took her life by suicide following her lifelong battle with an eating disorder. I was with her the day she ended her life and came upon the unimaginable. Her death left so many unanswered questions, daily uncontrollable crying, post trauma and what seemed to be deep never-ending grief. Melissa’s family and friends were crippled by the experience as well, making it difficult to for us to support one another."
"6 months following Melissa’s suicide I found myself completely immobilized repeatedly asking myself how I could possibly go on without her. I felt broken and alone in my pain. Thankfully, someone had given me the name of an organization they felt could help me. I reached out to H.U.G.S. (Healing and Understanding of Grief from Suicide), a 501c3 organization that provides free support services to those that have lost a loved one to suicide. H.U.G.S. Founder, Alice McGinley, immediately came to my side with the loving and supportive compassion that only a person that had experienced such a loss could provide. You see, Alice also had experienced the loss of a loved one to suicide, her 16-year-old son Danny. After navigating her way through deep pain Alice made the decision to start providing support to others struggling after the loss of a loved one. From there she went on to start a peer support group program that supports Survivors of Suicide Loss."
"I felt an immediate connection with Alice when I opened my front door to greet her. She displayed empathy and candor while sharing her personal journey. She let me talk. She let me cry. She sat quietly when I could not put my feelings into words. She helped me see hope and encouraged me to slowly begin moving forward. Alice, with strong connections to the counseling community, referred me to a psychologist that she felt would be a good match for me to further work through the post trauma and depression I was experiencing. I joined the H.U.G.S. bi-monthly peer support group where I felt welcome and safe to share my experience and here from others how they were coping."
"Alice changed my life! She is my earth angel!" ~ Lynn Dreyer-Devens
"6 months following Melissa’s suicide I found myself completely immobilized repeatedly asking myself how I could possibly go on without her. I felt broken and alone in my pain. Thankfully, someone had given me the name of an organization they felt could help me. I reached out to H.U.G.S. (Healing and Understanding of Grief from Suicide), a 501c3 organization that provides free support services to those that have lost a loved one to suicide. H.U.G.S. Founder, Alice McGinley, immediately came to my side with the loving and supportive compassion that only a person that had experienced such a loss could provide. You see, Alice also had experienced the loss of a loved one to suicide, her 16-year-old son Danny. After navigating her way through deep pain Alice made the decision to start providing support to others struggling after the loss of a loved one. From there she went on to start a peer support group program that supports Survivors of Suicide Loss."
"I felt an immediate connection with Alice when I opened my front door to greet her. She displayed empathy and candor while sharing her personal journey. She let me talk. She let me cry. She sat quietly when I could not put my feelings into words. She helped me see hope and encouraged me to slowly begin moving forward. Alice, with strong connections to the counseling community, referred me to a psychologist that she felt would be a good match for me to further work through the post trauma and depression I was experiencing. I joined the H.U.G.S. bi-monthly peer support group where I felt welcome and safe to share my experience and here from others how they were coping."
"Alice changed my life! She is my earth angel!" ~ Lynn Dreyer-Devens