About Desert Blooms Grief Center

Desert Blooms Grief Center is a 501(c)(3) organization in Dona Ana County that will provide grief support to children, teens and their families at no cost to them. This support will be provided in the form of volunteer facilitator-led peer groups that will meet on a weekly basis. Each group will be led in an age-appropriate topic of conversation and/or activity that encourages discussion and expression of their loss.

The structure of this program is not a new concept, but one that has helped grieving children, teens and their families since the birth of Portland’s, “The Dougy Center”, in 1982. Today, the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG) recognizes over 400 locations across the country with many of the recipients eventually giving back.

Mission Statement

To support children, teens and their families grieving
the loss of a loved one.

Vision Statement

No child, teen nor their family shall have to navigate the experience
of grief alone and risk it negatively impacting their futures.

Core Values:

Respect

For everyone who comes to us for support, their circumstances, and culture.

Compassion

For those experiencing the death of a loved one and the impact it’s having on their lives.

Education

On grief, it’s varying degree of impact on children, and the importance of timely support.

Support

To grieving children, teens and their families.

Melissa’s Story:
Why This Matters

Melissa lost her mother when she was just twelve years old after a difficult battle with ALS. She can recall being tremendously overwhelmed by the loss, and all the changes it brought with it such as a new home and school. It was too much, too fast, and Melissa found it difficult to express these thoughts and feelings. This was at least until her older sister decided to enroll them at, “Ele’s Place”.

Ele’s Place, a peer grief support group program, has only grown and expanded their operations across the state of Michigan over the years. It was here in 2003 though, that Melissa found comfort and understanding amongst peers also grieving the loss of a loved one. And compassionate individuals who volunteered to help them do so through ways that allowed them to effectively express themselves.

Childhood bereavement isn’t going anywhere, and with New Mexico currently second in the nation for its prevalence, there is not nearly enough support. Melissa also knows how complex death and grief are and how tried and true peer grief support groups are in intervening and preventing this experience from negatively impacting children and teen’s futures. This is the call that Desert Blooms Grief Center will answer for those throughout Dona Ana County.

Meet Our Team

Behind Desert Blooms is a group of dedicated professionals and community members —many with their own stories of loss—committed to making sure no child grieves alone.

Susie Facio

President

Our President at Desert Blooms Grief Center is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) and currently an Assistant Professor of the Social Work program at New Mexico State University. This was a natural next step in her professional life, guiding our future Social Workers, after more than 17 years of counseling and advocating for children and families throughout Southern New Mexico. Of all those years serving others, Susie feels the most important work she did was provide grief counseling and coordinating hospice bereavement services. She cares deeply for a person’s overall well-being, and it is this compassion that led her to be a part of our mission at DBGC and helping to set it up as a resource for our community for many years to come.

MS, Social Work, New Mexico State University
BA, Spanish, New Mexico State University

Vicki Lucero

Vice-President

A New Mexico native with a long-standing career in the mortgage lending industry, Vicki has an impressive pulse on our community. Her compassion and drive has given many families from all walks of life a chance at home ownership. This has resulted in countless friendships and partnerships within the community that make Vicki the perfect ambassador for as important of a cause as ours. Vicki also grew up in a large family that often welcomed children in foster care before going on to care for two children who’d lost their mothers herself. She witnessed first-hand, the various losses that a child can experience and the subsequent effects. This experience of caring for bereaved children, and a career built on relationships, has prepared Vicki to be our Vice President at Desert Blooms Grief Center.

BS, Agricultural Business, New Mexico State University

LaDonna DeLaho

Treasurer

LaDonna Delaho joins Desert Blooms Grief Center as our Treasurer with over ten years of experience as a certified bookkeeper. Originally hailing from Lubbock, Texas, she started out founding and leading a successful business while raising four children. She and the family eventually went on to live briefly in South Dakota, then over to Missouri where she worked as a paralegal and office manager for a number of years. LaDonna landed here in Las Cruces in 2010 where she’s remained since, remotely managing the finances of various large entities as well as non-profit organizations all over the country.

We’re lucky to have LaDonna as part of the team not only for her experience, but for her belief and understanding of our cause at DBGC. Following the tragic loss of her oldest daughter at just fourteen years old, LaDonna only wishes that there had been such services available to her daughter’s siblings.

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Treasurer

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Laura Maynez

Secretary

Laura joins our Board of Directors after 20+ years of working at NMSU in various departments from Assistant Advisor Coordinator to Advisor and Life Skills Coordinator. Add to that, over 12 years as a Senior Administrator for Boeing, Laura brings organization and attention-to-detail to her role as Secretary on the DBGC board.

She is currently retired, and seeking to support her community as much as possible.

BA, Government, New Mexico State University
MA, Education, New Mexico State of University

Maria Garza

Board Member At-Large

Maria is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with currently five years of experience supporting both children and adults through a wide range of emotional and psychological challenges. Having lost her own mother in childhood to health complications, Maria understands how challenging it can be for a child with little to no support to attempt to navigate as complex of a concept as death is. This is her “why” for joining DBGC's Board of Directors. She seeks to ensure no child in her community goes through such an experience alone again, and continuously adds to her arsenal of knowledge and skills in order to do so.

MS, Social Work, New Mexico State University
MS, Public Health, New Mexico State University
Registered Play Therapist Certification (RPT), In-Progress

Melissa Murphy

Executive Director

Melissa began her professional life in the United States Air Force and it is how she came to arrive in Las Cruces in 2014. After 9 years of service, Melissa transitioned honorably out of the Air Force and remained in the city that had become home. Since 2018, she has worked as a government contractor for corporations such as Raytheon Technologies and General Dynamics. Melissa knew it was not what she was ultimately meant to do though.

The most significant time of her life to date was the loss of her mother to ALS as a child. She recalled how the loss affected her, and the support she received from a children’s grief support program at a local non-profit. Melissa then discovered the shocking prevalence of childhood bereavement in New Mexico, and knew what she needed to do.

She is now the Founder and Executive Director of Desert Blooms Grief Center.

Certified Grief Educator, David Kessler + Grief.com