Impact Stories

Brad Rainko on Why His Family Supports Judi’s House

July 24, 2024

We asked longtime supporter of Judi’s House Brad Rainko on the many ways his family gets involved with our mission.

“We tragically lost my mom to a hemorrhagic stroke when my parents were visiting us in Colorado from Michigan.” says Brad Rainko. “As a family, we all struggled with grief and sudden loss, especially my two young sons who witnessed the stroke, and the emergency medical services taking “Nana” out of the house.”

“A few months after my mom’s passing, we were introduced to Judi’s House by John Wickliff and instantly came to see the impact of the organization,” says Brad.

“Tragic loss knows no race, age, gender, socioeconomic status or location.  It can affect anyone and any family.  We witnessed incredible stories of loss and resilience and saw how instrumental Judi’s House was for families and especially kids as they process their emotions and cope.”

Brad tells us that, like so many Judi’s House supporters, he wishes he would have known about this organization when his family was deep in their grieving journey.

“The great thing about Judi’s House is there are so many ways we can help as a family.  You can provide with financial donations, you can cook dinners or bake treats/desserts, you can serve food to the families at dinner time before meetings, you can clean the kitchen after, you can help with landscaping and you can even do something as basic as pulling weeds!” says Brad.  “We continually bring our sons to volunteer.  It gives them another way to process their grief and to realize they are not alone, but at the same time help kids who are going through loss.”

“In helping others, it has helped our family. We have had many conversations with the boys after volunteering about what we have gone through, and this undoubtedly helped us process our experience and accelerated our healing,” says Brad. “Our family is so proud to be part of the volunteer group at Judi’s House.”