I’m Here With You: A Community Forum on Understanding Children and Grief May 7th

Understanding how young children grieve is the focus of

I’m Here With You: A Forum on Children and Grief
on May 7, 2012 from 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM
at the Jewish Community Center in York.

Please click here to reserve your seat for this FREE community event.

The witf and Facing Cancer Together sponsored community forum is designed for adults who care for young children—families, teachers, principals, child care professionals.

In this special community forum, child grief experts Leslie Delp, M.A. (founder and bereavement specialist at Olivia’s House in York, PA) along with Emilio Parga, M.A. (founder and director at The Solace Tree in Reno, Nevada), will help us sort through myths, fears, and questions related to children’s grief.  Many of us just want to figure out what to say.

“You will never scar a child for life by talking about death,” says Leslie Delp, the founder and bereavement specialist at Olivia’s House in York.  Olivia’s House is a grief and loss center that offers no cost services for children and young adults whose family member, close friend, or even pet has died.   As adults, death can be a confusing and overwhelming topic for us. What must that all seem like to a young child?  Sometimes in our efforts to protect a child from something that scares us, are we really just creating more confusion?

“I often ask parents what they would say if their child asked them about rocket science, “ says Delp, “It is a great opportunity to say this is what I know, and this is what I don’t understand.  Let’s find out together!”  Delp reassures us that it is not about having all the answers, it is about providing the opportunity for children’s questions.

Like Olivia’s House, The Solace Tree provides support to kids experiencing grief.

In 2002, Emilio Parga discovered that he had cancer. At the time, he was also assisting students who had lost parents to suicide, accidental death and cancer. In his attempt to provide these children with emotional support, he realized that many kids and teenagers in Northern Nevada had lost a parent, sibling or caregiver throughout the year, and that there were no grief support programs for them. That’s when Emilio created the Solace Tree in 2004.

The mission of the Solace Tree is that all children, teens and their family members have the freedom to express their feelings associated with death in a safe and loving environment. The peer support programs and educational opportunities at the Solace Tree help children, teens and their family members to freely express their feelings associated with death in a safe and loving environment. The programs also help them learn to cope and adjust to the changes in their lives.

It’s places like The Solace Tree and Olivia’s House that provide the support when we don’t have all of the answers.  There is a network of places like these across the country providing hope to kids and their families.

At this community event, we’ll have the opportunity to hear what Leslie and Emilio have learned from their experiences.  They’ll provide a wealth of knowledge and practical tools to help navigate the bereavement process… through the eyes of a child.  And there will be an opportunity to ask questions of an expert panel including Leslie and Emilio.

Let’s learn together, because we’re in this together.

Please click here to reserve your seat for this FREE community event.

Please call 717.910.2806 with any questions you may have.

Or, you can email facingcancertogether@witf.org.  We’ll get back to you right away.

Nearly 40 campers attended Camp Solace on the beautiful north shore of Lake Tahoe, September 10-12. While enjoying swimming, kayaking, playing volleyball, and other camp activities, they were also encouraged to participate in the grieving process through sharing memories of their loved ones, writing in journals, creating art, writing poems and other ways that felt most comfortable to them.

“At camp there are no outsiders. While everyone might be different, just showing up gives us something in common,” says volunteer counselor Katelyn Cartwright. “For three whole days the people you surround yourself with actually want to hear about your loved one. For three whole days death is not taboo. You talk about it, you ask questions, and you can relate to everyone because of it.”

Special Camp Solace thanks go to: Reno Rodeo Foundation, Sierra Professional Insurance, Washoe County School Psychologists, William G. McGowan Charitable Fund, Inc. and Ebara International.
Anyone interested in donating to Camp Solace 2011, please visit www.solacetree.org/donate.

The Solace Tree, Inc. a 501c (3) non-profit based in Reno, NV. The Solace Tree mission is to provide peer support, information and education to schools and the community to promote healing and recovery for grieving children, teens and their families who are affected by loss. For more information, visit www.solacetree.org.