About Us
JAH Grief Services (JAH is pronounced jä) was founded in 2020 by husband and wife team, David and Jodie Gonzalez. The name JAH originated many years prior when they began dreaming of the JAH Center, a collective where community members could come together to explore life, death, spirituality…and have a nice cup of tea.
JAH stands for Jamie & Andy Healing. This small business would never exist today without the untimely deaths of Jamie and Andy Schliepsiek, who were murdered in 2004. Jamie is the younger sister of Jodie Gonzalez, and Andy is her husband.
Jamie & Andy 2003
As a result of their deaths, Jodie left Chicago and moved to Houston to be closer to her parents. That move changed the trajectory of her life and ultimately led to a career in social work and meeting David at a birthday party for one of her grad school friends.
Many years later, amidst the pandemic, Jodie began writing a grief workbook and the couple began creating a vision for JAH Grief Services, to help support grieving individuals through online services. Each brings their own personal and professional grief experiences to the organization, whose mission is to empower bereaved individuals through creative expression and avenues for authentic connection.
ABOUT JODIE
Jodie holds a masters degree from the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in Texas, she spent almost ten years working as a hospital and hospice social worker, and four years as a director of community education for a non-profit bereavement center in Houston.
Although she is a mental health professional specializing in grief and bereavement, she works not only from a professional perspective, but a deeply personal one. As a grief guide at JAH, she gives equal weight to her personal experience of loss, as that of her social work career. Please watch this video to learn more about her beliefs on grief and her approach to providing grief support.
ABOUT DAVID
David is a clinical medical chaplain and holds a Master of Science in Pastoral Counseling from Spertus Institute in Chicago. David currently works as a chaplain for a local children’s hospital and has supported several palliative care and hospice teams in the greater Houston area. He has led meditation, spirituality and art groups with veterans with PTSD and addictions at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. David has also volunteered and worked for diverse medical programs at Houston Hospice, M.D. Anderson, UTMB, Jewish Family Service, and Houston Area Women’s Center. As a support group facilitator for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (T.A.P.S.), David serves those grieving the death of a loved one serving in America's Armed Forces.
David is bilingual and available for grief guidance in both English and Spanish. Please choose a video below in the language of your choice, to learn more about his experience providing grief support.
