From Grief to Growth: Building A Wellness Space for Healing and Community in Detroit

Grief Changed Everything

In 2011, during my senior year of high school, I lost one of the closest people to me, my dad. I was just 16. He was only 45. He passed away after years of living with congestive heart failure.

It was the most devastating, earth-shattering loss I’ve ever experienced. There’s something about losing a parent that shakes your entire foundation. I didn’t know how to cope.

Isolation and Achievement

For years, I isolated. I ignored calls. I avoided family members I loved dearly. I suffered in silence, grieving, confused, and numb. I turned to food and distractions. I buried myself in achievement.

I graduated from Wellesley at 21, started a master’s program just weeks later, and poured myself into serving others. But in the solitude of my own four walls, it felt dark. Heavy. Lonely. I yearned for peace. For community. For healing.

That longing stayed with me. And it eventually started to push me toward something deeper.

From Teaching to Transformation: The Call to Wellness

My Students Needed More Than Lessons

When I became a teacher, I saw that so many of my students were struggling too, with grief, anxiety, depression, trauma. That often impacted their ability to learn and be present, but they kept showing up to my classes. Day after day.

So many would pile into my classroom during lunch...10, 20, sometimes 30 students. It was supposed to be my quiet hour, and I’d jokingly ask, “Why are y’all always in here?”

They’d say, “Because this is the only place we feel comfortable.”

Those moments changed everything.

The Beginning of My Wellness Journey

My students inspired me to begin my own healing. I had already started working out, but I was still cycling through disordered eating. Still avoiding the deeper emotions.

They helped me realize: you can’t pour from an empty cup.

So I found a therapist. I started doing the work. I started building a community of support.

Why Detroit Needs More Wellness Spaces

The Wellness Gap in the City

Eventually I left the classroom and moved through different work environments. I kept noticing the same thing: there were very few wellness spaces in Detroit that truly centered holistic wellness in community.

Places where people could move their bodies, nourish themselves, calm their minds, and be held in community.

Even now, Detroit has only three Pilates studios. They’re all located within eight minutes of each other and opened in just the last two years. That’s not enough for a city full of people who need support being well, especially on the east side, like the neighborhoods I grew up in.

The Vision Behind Nurtured

What If Healing Looked Like Home?

What if we had something more holistic? What if there was a space that felt like my classroom used to feel? What if we could create a place where people felt comfortable....safe enough to heal, to grow, to just be?

That’s what Nurtured is.

• It’s the space I needed when I was 16.

• It’s the space my students needed.

• It’s the space I still need.

And maybe, it’s the space you need too.

Nurtured: A Holistic Wellness Space in Detroit

At Nurtured, we're focusing on:

• Movement: through Pilates and mindful movement

• Fueling the body: with healthy provisions and education

• Mental calm: with space to breathe, reflect, and be

• Community: through classes, workshops, and local partnerships

Whether you're healing after loss, navigating burnout, or simply craving a space to feel whole again...Nurtured exists for you.

You Deserve to Be Nurtured

If you’ve been searching for a place that honors your healing, your health, and your humanity, know that you’re not alone.

You deserve to be well. You deserve to be held. You deserve to stay nurtured.

Ready to move, heal, or connect?

Check out our private Pilates sessions or drop a comment below.