JAMIE DICKERSON lifted her palm from the steering wheel and waved goodbye to her 9-year-old grandson. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she assured him. “If we’re going to open the grief center, I have to meet the landlord.” Pressing her lips together, she gave him one last reassuring nod before the door closed behind him. Somehow, before he finished today’s session with his therapist, she planned to pay $2,400 for the deposit and first month’s rent so she could open the Grieve With Me Community Center. The $700 she still needed was a minor hurdle compared to what they’d already overcome. So, by faith, she headed toward 810 Union St. in Shelbyville.
As she drove the short distance, she thought of her 29-year-old daughter, April Holt, who died July 31, 2023, under what Jamie wholeheartedly believed were mysterious circumstances. Gut-wrenching memories flooded her mind, and fresh tears dripped from Jamie’s freckled chin. Though the coroner and local law enforcement had ruled her daughter’s death a suicide, a voice deep within Jamie kept telling her otherwise.
For the last year and a half, she’d shared her daughter’s story on social media, drawing the attention of People magazine and several local and national news outlets. She’d pleaded with the district attorney and the investigators to reopen her case. But her pleas went unheeded until she discovered evidence that had been overlooked. Using this information to her advantage, Jamie recorded April’s husband, Donovan, as he confessed to murder. Her stomach turned in knots as she thought about her grandson seeing his mother’s body, and she prayed that even now, his therapist was unraveling the trauma that his own father had exposed him to.
Though Jamie wanted to hate — though she wanted to lash out in anger — she decided instead to choose love. She needed an outlet, a place where others who are hurting can find healing and a community to grieve alongside them. When April came into the world, she changed Jamie’s life forever, and now, her tragic death would change the lives of everyone who entered the doors of the Grieve With Me Community Center.
“My husband, Jeremiah Dickerson, has been my rock,” said Jamie. “We met when I was 14. April’s birth changed our lives as young teen parents, and her death has changed our lives again. We held onto our faith and to our marriage through it all. When I told him I felt led to quit my job and open the grief center, we were living in a camper and losing our home. We didn’t have the financial means to do so. But 45 minutes before I met with the landlord, I was gifted the last $700. Jeremiah and I have complete faith that we will be provided for.”
Jamie continued, “I chose to open the grief center because April loved giving back to the community, and I wanted to continue her legacy. Don’t allow a circumstance to change the person you were meant to be. Grief will morph who you are. We have to choose if that change will make us worse or if it will make us better. I have been through every parent’s worst nightmare, but I refuse to allow the devil to steal my faith through this tragedy. My favorite quote since my daughter passed is, ‘It’s okay to not be okay!’ Everyone always asks, ‘How are you doing?’ We are not obligated to say that we are okay because it’s okay to not be okay.”
The Grieve With Me Community Center opened its doors in November as a free resource for our community. However, donations are appreciated and accepted. The center offers support groups for adults and youth, game nights, book clubs, a shoulder (or more) to cry on, and proactive ways to process grief, such as through art and music therapy.
“Running the grief center helps me in processing my own emotions. Talking to others about their grief and helping them through the five stages (denial, bargaining, depression, anger, and acceptance) of the grieving process reminds me that a grief journey is just that — it’s a journey. There really isn’t a destination, but we keep moving forward on a path of healing so that we can help others.”
Jamie said that if she could give a gift to everyone who visits, she would give the gift of hope.
“Having hope allows for a future to be seen. Grief affects people physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally and often takes the feeling of hope away. I want to help restore hope by offering a place where those who are grieving can channel their emotions and begin to add beauty back into their lives.” GN
