National children's grief speaker Andy McNiel is available for interviews Nov 15

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Nov. 14, 2018 - PRLog -- National Alliance for Grieving Children Founding CEO Andy McNiel will be in Southwest Florida, Thursday, November 15 to speak in honor of National Children's Grief Awareness Day. McNiel will be hosted by Valerie's House and its founder and CEO Angela Melvin who has been on the forefront of children and grief for the past two decades. He has most recently been leading a nationwide effort to help children feel safe after a public tragedy.

"Children are filled with more anxiety and stress than they ever have before at school," McNiel said. "There is no wonder so many of them have trouble focusing during class. Children need our help to feel safe after a public tragedy."

McNiel reflects on how in less than two decades, children have gone from practicing for a fire drill to practicing for an active shooter drill. He has written numerous articles about the crisis, with an excerpt below.

Valerie's House CEO Angela Melvin adds that, "Since many of the children in our program at Valerie's House have already experienced a sometimes violent death in their household, the growing number of public shootings can often delay their ability to heal and feel safe again. Our children have already witnessed first-hand life's tragedies in their own lives, and now find themselves living in a heightened state of fear."

McNiel is available for in-person interviews Thursday, November 14 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., in your studio or at Valerie's House, located downtown at 1762 Fowler Street, Fort Myers 33901.

Children's Grief Awareness Day is celebrated on the third Thursday in November every year and designed to help Americans become more aware of the needs of grieving children and of the benefits children obtain through the support of others. For more information, go to www.childrengrieve.org.

Valerie's House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has provided grief services since 2016 to over 300 children and their families from Lee, Collier, Charlotte and Sarasota counties at its Fort Myers and Naples locations. As the first program of its kind in Southwest Florida, Valerie's House provides a safe, comfortable place for children of loss to bond, grieve and heal together following death of a close family member. The organization's vision since its founding by Angela Melvin in 2016 is that no child will grieve alone. Valerie's House is a United Way partner agency that is fully supported through generous donations from the community. For more information, visit https://valerieshouseswfl.org.