Tu Nidito Children & Family Services Honors 30 Years

By Loni Nannini

For three decades, Tu Nidito Children & Family Services has provided “The Little Nest” for the Tucson community, dedicated to the simple but powerful mission that no child — and no family — grieves alone. 

Tu Nidito Executive Director Liz McCusker reflected on the unique nonprofit that provides an array of services pertaining to serious medical diagnoses and bereavement support.

“There is no other organization in the country that does the full continuum of what we do, with services for families dealing with diagnosis of serious medical conditions through and after death,” said McCusker, who emphasized that all services are offered free of charge in both English and Spanish.

“We are one of those organizations that if you haven’t heard of us, that is good, because you didn’t need us. But we want to be here for anybody that is dealing with grief, whether that be a death or illness. Our vision is that no child and no family grieves alone and we really take that to heart in both education and direct services.” 

McCusker has been with the organization almost since it began as a children’s hospice 30 years ago. She said Tu Nidito’s evolution began within the first year.

“We realized that families were resistant to hospice because they thought that was admitting their child was going to die, so almost immediately we opened it up to any family who had a child with a serious medical condition. We knew they needed support when they weren’t in the hospital, when they were at home or out in the community.” 

Tu Nidito has continued to respond to community needs: It now offers bereavement support—along with support for children who have a parent or caregiver with a serious medical diagnosis—for children, teens and young adults in small group settings at 3922 N. Mountain Ave. It also provides services through programs in local schools. The services reached more than 1,000 people last year, and McCusker emphasized that the impact is significant.  

“Research shows that unresolved grief can show itself in drug abuse, acting out and mental health disorders. Lots of kids in the juvenile justice system are grieving,” she said. “One in nine children in Arizona are grieving and that is huge. It can be the loss of a parent, grandparent, sibling, friend or anyone who is important in a child’s life.” 

Tu Nidito operates on an annual budget of $1 million. It receives no federal funding and relies solely on donations. 

“We start each year with zero and say, ‘How will we do it?’” said McCusker. 

She credits generous individuals, businesses and family foundations for support and assistance with events and fundraisers, including the annual Remarkable Moms Celebration. Additionally, about 180 “incredible volunteers, make it possible to do what we do,” said McCusker. 

Among the longtime supporters and volunteers are Adriana and Jose Rincon. The couple found Tu Nidito after their son, Jose Jr., was killed by a drunk driver in 2008. They wanted to help their daughters—Gaby, who was 

then 15, and Juli, then seven—cope with the death of their brother. 

“One lost her best friend and the other lost her protector. When it happened, we tried different avenues to see what would feel right,” said Jose, who knew immediately that Tu Nidito was the answer.  “Tu Nidito was designed specifically to help children and our biggest motivator after the tragedy was finding our way forward to try and help our girls and give them the best shot at life.”

In spite of some initial resistance, Adriana said the girls quickly found that Tu Nidito was a place where they “didn’t feel alone” and “they felt normal amongst their peers” since often friends, classmates and teachers, “while loving and supportive, didn’t really know what to say or do.” 

“My analogy of Tu Nidito is that they felt like there was someone in the bunker with them and they weren’t in the bunker alone or in a fishbowl, where everyone was looking at them,” Jose said. 

Jose and Adriana said they are forever grateful and can’t emphasize enough how valuable Tu Nidito is to the community. 

“Our girls are in good places. . .and we attribute a lot of that to Tu Nidito and three years of support. They gave them tools to manage triggers and when the triggers come they have tools to work through it and process it and not bury their feelings,” said Adriana. 

“They have become masters of communicating their feelings and their needs and we are so proud of how they have learned to communicate and be vulnerable through this experience.”

Pictured above – Liz McCusker, Executive Director, Tu Nidito. Photo by Brent G. Mathis