Lee’s Summit group promotes kindness and literacy. Their symbol? Painted rocks
Honoring the memory of a kind, snarky young woman through painted rocks has been the mission of Alyssa’s Wishes since the nonprofit was launched in 2017.
Alyssa Noelle Audette passed away in 2011 as a result of an accidental drug overdose. She was just 20 years old.
“Once she first passed away, I laid on the couch for eight months,” shared Alyssa’s mother, Karen Houck, who went on to found and runs the organization dedicated to spreading kindness and sharing Alyssa’s story.
During the next few years, the family often gathered together on Alyssa’s birthday or the anniversary of her death to do something meaningful, such as adopting a seal or freeing a group of ladybugs in memory of animal-loving Alyssa.
The idea for a charity in Alyssa’s honor began with a single painted rock and a phone call. Houck’s friend had found a painted ladybug rock in Florida and knew that Alyssa liked ladybugs and had even dressed as a ladybug for Halloween.
“She told me that these people down there, they paint rocks and they put them all around,” Houck said. “And it was right around Alyssa’s birthday, and she’s like, ‘it made me think of you and Alyssa. You should look into it.’”
With the help of her daughter, Ashley Melón, Houck began researching the trend and found a number of rock painting groups throughout the nation.
“I said, ‘Can we do this? Can we do this for your sister?’ Because when she passed she had a bucket list and on the list was to travel the world,” Houck added.
The initial goal was to spread the painted rocks and, with them, Alyssa’s story.
Houck and Melón began painting in 2017, sending their rocks out into the world. In 2018, Houck and her husband, Kirby, created a rock garden in their Lee’s Summit front yard at 2108 NE Concord Street. The landscaped space is anchored with a large rock painted as a ladybug.
Over the years, they’ve added a Free Little Library — in the shape of a ladybug, with a garden bench and signage encouraging people to take a rock to keep or share.
The nonprofit also supports several charities including ones that reflect Alyssa’s passion for animals.
Houck, Melón and other volunteers are frequently at community events to support acts of kindness, foster community connections and promote literacy. They give away rocks and bookmarks while telling others about Alyssa.
The nonprofit encourages others to take part in painting rocks or shells with bright colors, fun quotes, ladybugs or Alyssa’s favorite, penguins, and leave them for others to find. Rocks are hashtagged with #AlyssasWishes to ensure that rock finders have the opportunity to learn more about Alyssa and the charity. The many locations throughout the world where rocks and shells have been found are tracked on the Alyssa’s Wishes webpage.
Houck estimates that thousands and thousands of rocks featuring positive messages, colorful images and the organization’s hashtag have been sent into all 50 states and throughout the world.
Through Alyssa’s Wishes Free Little Library, added to Houck’s yard in 2020, more than 50,000 books have been processed, organized and donated, all out of the family’s garage.
Especially important to Houck has been how the local charity not only spreads positive messages and helps others, it also provides opportunities for people to learn about Alyssa and how her life touched others.
“Alyssa was kind, funny, sarcastic,” she said. “She was kind of on the scenic route. As she grew, she was very kind, very snarky, had a very small circle of friends. She loved penguins and Winnie the Pooh and reading poetry and the beach and animals. On that bucket list was to save all the animals from kill shelters as well.”
Through Alyssa’s Wishes, Houck has been able to reach a large audience, appearing on “The Today Show” and the “Tamron Hall Show” several years ago.
“I get to tell her story, so that helps me,” she said. “I’ve met a lot of other moms that have lost children. I get to do all the things I’ve gotten to do and sometimes I have to lay into the fact that it’s for a horrific reason.”
Houck makes time to paint close to 20 rocks every day, giving them away, leaving them to be found at airports and numerous other locations and distributing rocks and kindness messages at events.
When she meets others within the community or at her own front-yard rock garden, Houck talks to them about painting their own rocks.
“I tell them, ‘why don’t you paint two rocks? One to keep and one to give away.’ I always paint the messages I need to hear to keep going.”
A painted rock at the right time can make a tremendous difference, and Houck still has the ladybug rock her friend found years ago in Florida.
“When I got the rock painting into my life, it was really like a tangible place to put my grief,” she said. “Now I’m painting rocks every day and sending them out into the world.”
Alyssa’s Wishes website includes additional information about the nonprofit and Alyssa’s life as well as links to the organization’s social media.
