Impact Stories
We Are All Connected: Amit & Bijal Shah
February 16, 2022
Amit and Bijal Shah are impressive community members in the health and education sectors who make giving back a priority. In addition to spending time being new parents, they both share their time and talent through Board service: Amit with Judi’s House and Bijal with Downtown Denver Partnership and Girls Inc. of Metro Denver. The Shahs were early leaders in realizing our vision for the future, making one of the first commitments to the capital campaign. Judi’s House is grateful for their friendship and partnership. Amit shares more about their connection to Judi’s House.
What was it that spurred your initial involvement with Judi’s House?
Having gone to the University of Michigan, I ended up going to a corporate event where Brian was speaking. I grew up in the era when Brian led the Michigan football team to an undefeated season and national championship, so I was excited to meet him. As we were talking, he shared his work with Judi’s House and I was immediately interested. Having lost a parent at a young age, I had a flood of emotions as Brian shared the work of Judi’s House. The next week, I visited Judi’s House to learn more, and I was struck by how thoughtful the space was. The intentional way that the team was using physical space to be a guide for grief healing struck me. In addition, I learned of the work of JAG Institute and realized that, not only was Judi’s House providing world class care; they were creating the research fact-base to be able to scale this care beyond just this community. As someone who works in healthcare, I recognized the broader impact that the organization could have. I have been involved with Judi’s House ever since!
Why do you choose to invest in Judi’s House?
We choose to invest in Judi’s House because we deliver care to vulnerable populations at a time of intense need. We believe that the care we deliver changes the trajectory of the lives that get to experience it. Learning to deal with the intense grief of loss, especially at a young age, is incredibly difficult and Judi’s House has developed a world-class, research-based approach to help people.
What excites you the most about the capital campaign?
We view the capital campaign as an impact enabler. We already know how incredibly impactful the work of Judi’s House is– the capital campaign will enable Judi’s House to expand their impact to an even broader population. Unfortunately, as the CBEM (Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model) predicts, this issue of loss is only increasing in our communities, especially in more vulnerable populations. Enabling more capacity to serve and heal is both necessary and exciting. In addition, I am looking forward to how the team at Judi’s House takes all that they have learned over the last few decades and integrates it into the new space. The physical connection between the space and the grief healing has always been one of the keys at Judi’s House, and this is such a wonderful opportunity to expand on that!
What is your favorite memory of the current Judi’s House home?
I remember the first time I walked in and walked upstairs. I was reading the quilts on the wall and tears started to stream down my cheeks. I was feeling a rush of emotions from all the years and could feel a connection to the kids who were sharing their thoughts through those quilts.
Learn more about our new home at judishouse.org/campaign.