First of its kind mental-wellness house for kids with childhood trauma and pediatric illness, now open in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Excited for what you see here.

This is a room. In a house. In Uptown. The house was built with one goal in mind: Help local Charlotte families.

The House is “Mitchell’s House.” It’s in existence because of a boy named Mitchell Bays Turner, and his powerhouse of a mom, Meg McElwain. The house is in an extension of Mitchell’s Fund, a local non-profit trying to improve the mental well-being of children (and their families!) who have experienced childhood trauma.

This past February, the Fund opened Mitchell’s House to provide counseling and play therapy services to sick children with a terminal or life-threatening diagnosis… or to their siblings… or to their parents/legal guardians… regardless of ability to pay.

All-encompassing. Helping the family, because when a child is sick, it’s not just the child who is impacted.

That’s a fact Meg knows well.

Her baby was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in 2012 at 3-months old. He was given 40% chance of survival. That same year, Meg established Mitchell’s Fund. Sadly, after two intense years of chemotherapy and hospital visits, Mitchell died in 2014.

Since then, Meg has been helping other families through this Fund. This House is its first non-profit counseling center.

Think it’s pretty remarkable that our city has a cause-focused mainly on the mental well-being of those impacted by pediatric illness.

If you think Mitchell’s House could help you or your family, Meg says you just need to fill out a brief application. You can find it at www.mitchellsfund.org. Or, call Mitchell’s House at 704-980-8681. She says each client is granted four sessions to start; after the third session, the licensed professional counselors should have enough therapeutic data to determine next steps and a plan.

And... FYI... Meg didn’t ask me to write any of this. What she’s doing is a remarkable gift to the community and my bet is that many of you connected to amazing #MollysKids, know families and individuals who could benefit. The specific address is 428 E. 4th Street across from the Charlotte Transportation Center, so accessible by CATS Bus or Lynx Rail. A parking lot is also next door.

Can’t wait to see the impact this house makes and how Mitchell’s spirit—and his mom who I respect greatly—continue to impact our community.

-Molly

PS: Couple pictures of Mitchell below in comments.