Family separation is one of life’s biggest transitions—not only for parents, but for children. While adults often have access to lawyers, mediators, counsellors and parenting courses, children are frequently left trying to make sense of enormous changes with very little guidance of their own. After spending decades working with separating families, Krysta Ostwald, KC, partner at Jones Divorce & Family Law, and Andrea LaRochelle, a former registered family mediator and high-conflict communication consultant, noticed something they couldn’t ignore.
Parents were receiving support, but children were expected to simply adapt.
Rather than accepting that gap, they decided to do something about it! Together they founded Two Homes One Heart, a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to giving children practical tools, language and reassurance as they navigate life between two homes.
“Our goal has never been to take sides,” says Ostwald. “It’s to make sure children don’t feel like they have to.”
For both women, the idea grew naturally from years of working with families in different—but highly complementary—ways. As a mediator, arbitrator and lawyer at Jones Divorce & Family Law, Ostwald has helped thousands of families resolve disputes while keeping children at the centre of difficult decisions. Again and again she saw parents who genuinely wanted to do what was best for their children, but simply didn’t know how.
“There isn’t a parenting handbook for divorce,” she says. “Parents are often doing the best they can while navigating one of the hardest seasons of their own lives.”
LaRochelle approached the challenge from another perspective. For many years she worked with families experiencing high conflict, teaching parents healthier ways to communicate after separation. She also held the contract to facilitate Alberta’s Parenting After Separation (PAS) program, giving her the opportunity to work alongside countless parents learning to co-parent more effectively. That experience highlighted something important: while parents were receiving education and support, very little existed that spoke directly to children.
“Children are often the quiet observers,” says LaRochelle. “They’re listening to everything, trying to make sense of what’s changing, and wondering where they fit.”
Together, the two women began asking a different question. Instead of focusing solely on helping adults communicate better, what if children had resources created specifically for them? That question became Two Homes One Heart.
Their experience taught them something encouraging. Most parents love their children deeply and want to protect them. Often, they don’t know what to say or are afraid of saying the wrong thing.
“Parents sometimes become so cautious during the legal process that conversations stop altogether,” Ostwald explains. “The silence with children on tough topics isn’t intentional. It’s usually coming from a place of trying to avoid making things worse.”
Unfortunately, children often fill those silent spaces with their own conclusions.
“They’re incredibly imaginative,” says LaRochelle. “If no one helps them understand what’s happening, they’ll often create their own story—and many children assume the separation is somehow their fault.”
Two Homes One Heart was designed to replace uncertainty with understanding.
Rather than asking children to choose sides, carry adult problems or be a caregiver for a parent, the program reminds them of something they need to hear: you have a voice, but you don’t have to carry the responsibility for the adults’ decisions.
The online program includes separate age appropriate workbooks for children and teenagers, using language that is practical, encouraging and easy to understand. Instead of overwhelming children with legal concepts, the lessons focus on emotional literacy, healthy communication, resilience and helping children recognize that they are loved in both homes.
The approach reflects the strengths both founders bring to the organization.
Ostwald contributes decades of legal and mediation experience, understanding how families move through separation and the challenges parents encounter while trying to build healthy co-parenting relationships. She also conducts child focused mediation for families.
LaRochelle brings extensive experience helping families reduce conflict and improve communication. One of her best-known communication frameworks, Disengage, Decide, Deliver, teaches adults to step back from conflict before responding thoughtfully. That same philosophy has been adapted into child friendly language throughout Two Homes One Heart, helping young people communicate with confidence instead of reacting emotionally.
“Children don’t need to become little mediators,” LaRochelle says with a smile. “They just need tools that help them understand what’s happening and feel safe expressing themselves.”
This emphasis on practical skills is what makes the program different.
Rather than dwelling on what has been lost, Two Homes One Heart focuses on what can still be built: confidence, healthy relationships, emotional resilience, and hope.
The founders are also mindful that children often learn best in environments where they feel emotionally safe. That’s one reason they’re exploring opportunities to make the program available through schools and community settings, where children can participate independently and without feeling caught between parents.
Although the organization remains self-funded, conversations with Alberta government departments reflect growing recognition that children deserve resources created specifically for them. The long-term vision is to make Two Homes One Heart widely available through justice, education and community systems so every child experiencing family separation can access support regardless of where they live.
For Ostwald and LaRochelle, success isn’t measured by how many workbooks are distributed. It’s measured in quieter moments: a child who realizes they don’t have to choose between Mom and Dad, a teenager who finally has words for what they’re feeling, a family discovering healthier ways to communicate.
Those moments may never make headlines, but they have the power to change lives.
“Families don’t have to be perfect for children to thrive,” says Ostwald. “Children need to know they’re loved, they’re safe, and they still belong.”
LaRochelle agrees. “Two homes can still feel like one heart. That’s really what we’re trying to give children—a reminder that although their family may look different, they don’t have to lose their sense of home.”
