FORT MYERS, Fla. — After experiencing the loss of their parents, some teens in Fort Myers went through a journey of grief and have now been awarded more than $37,000 worth of scholarships.
Fort Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price came to Valerie's House to speak with three teens who thought their future was over when their parents took their last breath, but they persevered.
Watch to see how the teens are overcoming grief by pursuing their dreams:
Carter Koehler points out his dad on a Wall of Honor inside Valerie's House, which represents service members, both active and those who have passed away. His dad had a heart attack when Koehler was 13-years-old.
Koehler tells me that his mother found out early in the morning when he was about 13 years old, right before she was getting him ready for school.
"For two hours, I just didn't open my eyes. I was crying," Koehler said.
The Calderon sisters were 8 and 11 when their mother passed in 2015.
"I would have known her as a friend, but I was robbed of that. So for me, talking about her seems like there's a void inside of me," the youngest Calderon sister, Kaeley, said.
While they stood in front of the Valerie's House "Forever in Our Hearts" wall, they recalled the stages of grief they experienced.
Koehler says he couldn't focus at school after his father's death.
"Once he passed, everything went downhill. I didn't focus, I didn't try nothing," Koehler said.
The Calderon sisters expressed heartbreak, insecurities, and anger.
"I was angry at myself. I always thought like, I shouldn't have yelled at her before. I should have just been a nicer kid to her," Emely Calderon said.
It was two years after their mom passed that their father brought them to Valerie's House.
"I didn't think I was going to ever make it past 15, and I thought my life was going to be over then," Kaeley said.
They all say this home introduced them to others who were feeling similar pains and helped them find a way to live again.
"Our mission is no child will grieve alone, and that grief doesn't have to limit our dreams," Emely said, who now partially works at Valerie's House while going to FGCU.
Now they get to celebrate each other, having made it through the other side of grief. Fourteen young adults, including Koehler and the Calderon sisters, received scholarships to further their education.
"Getting my bachelor's degree in social work, so I'm just looking forward to that and getting my masters," Emely said.
Her little sister will start college in the fall.
And for Koehler, he has chosen a career path serving others.
"I'm doing firefighting. So I'm attending FSW for firefighting, just because I like to work in the community," Koehler said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
