The staff of Valerie’s House knows what it’s like to be without a place of its own. After learning about some local businesses’ offices being destroyed by recent hurricanes, the nonprofit organization that helps grieving children offered space at its Punta Gorda center.
“After hurricanes Helene and Milton, we noticed a lot of businesses in downtown Punta Gorda were flooded and had to close their doors,” said Tara Zajas, Charlotte County Director for Valerie’s House, which also has centers in Lee, Collier and Escambia counties.
Prior to January 2024, Valerie’s House in Charlotte County was meeting at Punta Gorda churches. In October 2023, the organization purchased a 1921 home at 233 E. McKenzie St. in town, which is where Beane Atkinson Financial Services now meets clients. Three other local businesses also are using space at the grief center.
Beane Atkinson, a financial and estate planning business, lost everything to flooding, said Jennifer Beane, office administrator for the company that was founded by her parents John and Cynthia Beane some 40 years ago in Naples.
She said when she told her friend Zajas about their loss, Zajas welcomed the staff to meet with clients at Valerie’s House when there are no counseling sessions or group activities taking place.
Beane Atkinson had been at 310 Dupont St. since the early 2000s. “Normally we don’t get flooded,” Jennifer Beane said.
But Hurricane Helene flooded the business in an older, yellow house with a red metal roof. After Helene, the staff salvaged what they could and put it into a pod on the premises.
“Then Milton came, and we got almost 2 1/2 to 3 feet of water, which flooded the pod. We lost everything,” Jennifer Beane said.
Although the staff is working remotely, clients’ consultations are done in person. Now, the planners and advisers are meeting with them at Valerie’s House by appointment.
Partner Garrett Atkinson, who is Jennifer Bean’s brother-in-law and son-in-law to the older Beanes, said that as a licensed attorney he is able to provide estate planning services without referring clients to another business.
“We are actually two businesses,” he said. In addition to estate planning, the firm also helps individuals and businesses strategize their income, tax, insurance, investment and retirement plans.
A former patent attorney, Atkinson left a large Washington, D.C., law firm where he was a partner and working remotely, to join his in-laws’ company, as he wanted to become more involved with the community.
“I love sitting across from people talking about their lives and being of use to the community,” he said.
Now, his involvement extends to providing financial advice post-hurricanes, and perhaps keeping an eye on renovation work at the family’s Dupont Street offices.
Meanwhile, the Bean Atkinson team awaits completion of their former office whose building has been gutted. Estimates for completion are anywhere from three to six months, Jennifer Beane said.
She praised Zajas for helping the family business. “She has been awesome; she knew our situation and said if we need anything, to let her know,” Beane said.
Recently, the teen and counseling building behind Valerie’s House’s main structure sustained substantial flooding from Helene and Milton. It was completely renovated by local business volunteers who provided their labor and materials free of charge.
Between having no place of their own and then having part of their campus flooded, the staff of Valerie’s House understands what others have been going through. “Our doors are open,” Zajas said.
