Grief doesn’t end at a funeral. Most of us know what it means to mourn a loved one. Fewer of us knew that pain as a child.
Parks & People had the honor to cut the ribbon on one of the most moving projects yet; Roberta’s House Mediation Garden.
Roberta’s House is a family grief support center that provides trauma-informed care and addresses grief as a public health service. Roberta’s House offers programming for all ages in order to address the needs of children and families who are grieving the death of a family member or significant person.
Roberta’s House grew from one of the largest Black owned funeral homes in the nation. Julia and William C. March founded the March Funeral Homes in Baltimore in 1957. They committed to providing dignified, affordable services to low income families. Roberta’s House developed out of the critical need to provide structured, intentional grief support care to children and families after services. Thanks to their programs families who experience loss are able to transform their despair to hope, and ultimately create safer, healthier, healed communities.
The meditation garden will be an inclusive outdoor space that compliments the services currently provided by the center. The gardens include a wandering and spacious labyrinth, beautiful accessible walkways, an iconic Nature Sacred bench, and soothing landscaping native to the area.
Parks & People is honored to design and manage these historic developments as we continue to build high quality green space for the benefit of Baltimore’s mental and physical health.
Thank you to our crucial partners and funders the March family, Roberta’s House, Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Kentfields Foundation,
Floura Teeter Landscape Architects, Inc., Nature Sacred, East Baltimore Midway Community Association, and Greater Greenmount Community Association.