CLEVELAND — Grief can be paralyzing, but Rivers in the Desert brings a safe place to people experiencing the loss of a loved one due to violence, accidents, and other circumstances.
The nonprofit provides access to holistic care and grief support and often works out of its Mobile Healing Room, an RV where guests are invited to work with trained professionals.
Rivers in the Desert is marking its fifth anniversary with its Founders Weekend on May 8 and May 9, where it will also dedicate its second Mobile Healing Room, a trailer, in honor of a teen, Jayden Bonner, who received services on the unit and was later killed by gun violence.
I first reported on the organization in 2024.
"We cannot police ourselves out of the violence we're seeing,” Sharri Thomas, co-founder of the nonprofit, told me. “A lot of what we're seeing from our young people is they have no place to put their trauma."
Thomas said the initial response to traumatic events and, often, the grief that follows are separate journeys.
“Oftentimes people are left to grieve alone,” Thomas said. "You need to feel seen, heard and validated in your pain."
That belief drives the Mobile Healing Room. Robert O’Neill is one of Rivers in the Desert’s team members. He said he’s learned a lot— especially from youth.
“You hear young people feeling like they got to grow up really fast,” O’Neill said. “The anger. They're very angry. Young people are very angry right now and they're active."
Yet, he said, when given the space, it’s encouraging to see people move beyond that pain.
“To show up with greater love, show up with greater understanding and patience and service,” O’Neill said. “They're processing something so large and trying to make sense out of it. They’re growing up, and they're trying to reach out to their friends to try to help them go through.”
Friday, May 8, an invitation-only gathering will take place in Maple Heights to honor the lives of two men, Zachery Cutner and Ryan Tyler, who were killed in a 2021 shooting outside Thomas’ Maple Heights home. That tragic day never left Thomas and played a significant role in launching Rivers in the Desert.
Saturday, May 9, the public is invited to the dedication of the second Mobile Healing Room from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cleveland at 21600 Shaker Blvd. in Shaker Heights.
"It’s going to be named Jaybo,” Thomas said, because he visited that very unit in April of 2025 after his friend was shot and killed at the Shaker Heights Public Library.
“We had over 30 children coming to the Mobile Healing Room. We actually stayed there for six weeks,” Thomas said.
Bonner stood out.
"Because we had a really intense, very transparent conversation, and almost five months to the day, he was murdered,” she said.
An unexpected reality of life and death.
“When you lose someone that you provided service for, it hits you a little different,” Thomas said.
Her husband, Anthony, said the connections built are real and never fade.
“We went to the (Bonner’s) funeral and stuff, and she (Sharri) had to minister to his mother, you know. And you hate for something like that to happen,” Anthony said.
Rivers in the Desert is continuing to expand their work across Northeast Ohio, but is also working to build a national model.
“We got hospitals, we got police departments,” Anthony said. “Why not have some positive stuff happening where people can come and be healed. I want to create healing villages all over this United States of America.”
In fact, earlier this year, the Thomas’ traveled to several states with the Mobile Healing Room, to listen to families who wanted to share stories about their loved ones lost and life after.
The Documentary ‘Healing Across America’ covers that journey and premiered in February at Atlas Cinemas in Shaker Square.
Sharri said fundraising and networking continue to bring more people and expertise to the table. I asked her what she’s learned over the past five years. She said a lot, but noted that people need the time and space to properly deal with grief.
“What I've learned is people who have lost family members, their children, their partners, their best friends, and to expect people to go back to life as usual is really kind of unrealistic. We don't stay around long enough to see how it really impacts people. We show up and we provide a safe space.”
Damon Maloney is a Cuyahoga County and We Follow Through anchor at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @DMaloneyTV, on Facebook DamonMaloneyTV or email him at Damon.Maloney@wews.com.
