Meet the Team
Laura Walzer
Laura Walzer has an undergraduate degree in Psychology and French from NYU and a Master’s Degree in Clinical and Counseling Psychology from Marist College. Laura recently retired from her position working at Ulster County Children and Family Services for the last 32 years. Laura worked in preventive services, a trauma treatment program and recently finished out her career as a supervisor in a foster care unit. She has a certificate in Children’s Bereavement Counseling through a hospice program and extensive experience working with children and youth with complex trauma and loss. Laura has had several significant losses in her own life, and these have shaped and colored her life in many ways. It is her hope that all those grieving will have support and resources available to them in order to bring healing to their lives. Laura serves on the Community Services Board in Ulster County, is chair of the Executive Board of the Special Education Task Force and volunteers with The Peoples Place in Kingston, NY. In her spare time, Laura is an avid gardener, a major Francophile, loves to travel and learn foreign languages, loves the ocean and pretty much every animal. She lives in Rosendale, NY with her husband, her 13-year-old son, a dog and two cats. Laura also has an adult daughter that lives on Long Island.
Leilani Yizar-Reid
Leilani Yizar-Reid is a woman motivated to help others seek and walk a journey toward individual wholeness. She is a certified Pregnancy and Infant Loss Advocate, Fertility Doula, and Wellness Coach with over 60 credit hours in pursuit of obtaining her Masters in Art Therapy and Counseling. She owns River Rise LLC, a business that promotes holistic wellness and healing through various programs and support services. It is through her business she can create free support services for persons struggling with fertility, pregnancy, and infant loss; and support youth serving organizations by developing curriculums for their overall development; She believes her purpose is to serve, take the lessons she learned, and help others walk their authentic journey.
Elle Kelsheimer
Elle Kelsheimer is a recent arrival to Kingston, hailing originally from the Pacific Northwest. She enjoys many hobbies such as hiking, crafting, gardening and board games and lives in Kingston with her husband and son.
Having endured a great deal of grief in her own life, Elle wanted to get involved with Roula's Kids so she could imbue those painful experiences with meaning - they enable her to truly understand and empathize with others who are grieving. As cliche as it is to say, children are our future and helping them learn to navigate the heavy feelings that come with these tragedies allows them to move forward equipped to manage them throughout the rest of their lives. The kids find invaluable solace in community.
How we do this
These services are provided at no cost to families thanks to the generosity of many people who believe in this work and have donated significant funds to make Roula's Kids a reality. Roula's Kids was seeded with initial capital donated in memory of my mother, Roula. Established as a 501(c)(3) organization, Roula's Kids solicits and receives tax-deductible donations from individuals and seeks grants from foundations and corporations to support its work: providing much-needed grief counseling services to children and their families. Roula's Kids is governed by a volunteer board of trustees, which ensures that Roula's Kids operates in accordance with the highest ethical and legal standards. Please join us in supporting this important work.