Natalie Reid-Knutson and Kjell Knutson of Broken Halos Haven pose with LNR club president Dennis Song.
Guest speaker Natalie Reid-Knutson made a repeat appearance at the Lewisville Noon meeting with an update on what's been happening with Broken Halos Haven since she started the nonprofit organization last year.
The charity was born out of tragedy after Reid-Knutson lost her husband, Wayne, to a sudden heart attack in August 2018. A new widow and single mother of three boys, she took the children to New York City for their first Christmas without their father, in hopes of providing a distraction from their shared grief and begin making new memories. The trip gave her the idea to create a space where widows could get away for a few days to unplug and be pampered, and where they could bring their children or a close friend to enjoy fun activities.
The year after her husband's death, Reid met and married Kjell Knutson and shared her vision for the nonprofit. The day after their wedding, the couple came across a 100-year-old house in Old Town Lewisville and saw the potential to create the haven they now envisioned together. “How many times in our lives do we have ideas and dreams…but we don’t pursue them?” she asked the audience, rhetorically. The newlyweds purchased the property and rallied volunteers. Together, they put in hundreds of hours to repair and renovate the house, which features historic elements, like the original hardwood floors, combined with modern amenities.
The fully restored 1920s farmhouse now serves as a space to bless grieving families with a stress-free, no cost getaway, as well as empower widows who are parenting alone and help them understand it's okay to find joy again. “You only have this moment,” said Reid-Knutson. “You’re not promised tomorrow.”
Broken Halos Haven received its official nonprofit designation in May 2022, noted Kjell Knutson, joining his bride at the podium. In addition, the couple bought a second house in Old Town Lewisville on Walters Street to further expand their organization’s reach. Whereas the first house was set aside as “a dwelling place for God,” Knutson said, the second house is intended to be a place of ministry for the 250+ widows and their children who already are connected to the charity.
With the new space, Broken Halos Haven will be kicking off MAN CAMP, where men volunteer to mentor boys who lost their father and teach them the kind of life skills they would have learned from their dad. “There’s a part of being a man that the widows feel completely inept to fill,” Knutson said. He added, “The new house will serve as the host site for MAN CAMP and being able to pour into these young men in different ways.”
The couple also is launching a play-based grief support group for kids and teens, called SHIFT. Broken Halos Haven currently is looking for volunteers who have experienced loss to help serve at the weekly meetings, once the program begins in January 2023. To learn more about the nonprofit or get involved as a donor or volunteer, visit brokenhaloshaven.org.