“Unresolved grief and community depression can lead to delinquency and crime. Our work alleviates that for communities like Douglas County, Fallon, Fernley, Elko, and Austin, pretty much anywhere there’s an Internet connection”, says Emilio Parga, Executive Director. ”And, there is not currently grief support available for children and teens in much of Nevada and in many areas of the country.”

Money raised will go toward staff and technology necessary to implement the program, including:

• Go-To-Meeting software
• Adequate bandwidth
• Internet media specialist
• Directional cameras for groups

The Solace Tree has raised $6,000 from John Worthington toward the matching grant so far, and is now asking the community for donations to meet the rest of the fundraising goal of $25,000.The Solace Tree, Inc. is a 501c (3) non-profit based in Reno, NV, with a 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 on making a donation, please visit www.solacetree.org/donate or call 775.324-7723.

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In its eight years of service, this local non-profit organization has:

• Served more than 4,400 children, teens and adults
• Developed a special session for teens who are dealing with teen suicide
• Met the needs of about 50% of those who have experienced loss in Northern Nevada
• Produced six books: The Solace Tree Love Never Stops, I Will Never Forget You, No Child Should Grieve Alone, Out of The Shadows, Kids Can Cope,
• Trained more than 100 volunteers, who have provided more than 75,000 volunteer hours
• Facilitated/participated in more than 500 speaking engagements and 79 workshops
• Hosted six Grief Camps at Lake Tahoe for 153 children and 50 teens
• Provided service for people from 12 cultures and seven religions.

The Solace Tree is self-funded through grants and donors, and its annual operation budget has increased from $17,000 in 2005 to $225,000 in 2010.

In 2012, the Solace Tree is planning to launch Virtual Solace, a web-based program that will allow the Solace Tree to offer grief support group services to remote or underserved communities. “We’re doing good work on a local level, and this program will allow us to leverage our proven model beyond the Reno-Sparks area,” said David Wertzberger, Solace Tree Board Chair. “We get requests for help from all over the country, but it’s not feasible for us to set up a Solace Tree in all these places just yet. With Virtual Solace, we can still help these people.”

It will cost approximately $70,000 to establish Virtual Solace, with funds raised going toward staff and technology necessary to implement the program, including:

• Go-To-Meeting software
• Adequate bandwidth
• Internet media specialist
• Directional cameras for groups

“Unresolved grief and community depression can lead to delinquency and crime. Our work alleviates that for communities like Douglas County, Fallon, Fernley, Elko, and Austin, pretty much anywhere there’s an Internet connection,” says Parga. ”And, there is not currently grief support available for children and teens in much of Nevada and in many areas of the country.”

To kick off the funding of Virtual Solace, the Solace Tree has received a grant of $35,000 from the Chicago-based William C. McGowan Charitable Fund, which has a vision to “impact lives today, create sustainable change, and empower future generations to achieve their greatest potential.” The Solace Tree has raised $6,000 from John Worthington toward the matching grant so far, and is now asking the community for donations to meet the rest of the fundraising goal.

“We are so grateful for the community support that has allowed us to help these families,” said Parga. “We’ve accomplished a lot in the last eight years, but there’s still so much more to do,”

For more information, visit www.solacetree.org.

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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.

Click here to view the documentary on the Reno PBS website.

The documentary recently won the 2011 Silver Communicator Award.

The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program honoring creative excellence for Communications Professionals. Founded by communication professionals over a decade ago, The Communicator Awards receives over 9,000 entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world.

The Communicator Awards provides winners and their clients the recognition they deserve and gives communications and creative professionals proof and validation that their work is outstanding and highly regarded by their peers. The Communicator Awards provides an equal chance of winning to all entrants regardless of company or agency size and project budget.

The Award of Excellence, our highest honor, is given to those entries whose ability to communicate puts them among the best in the field. The Award of Distinction is presented for projects that exceed industry standards in quality and achievement.

For well over a decade, the Communicator Awards has honored the best creative work in the communications fields. And now, as we enter our 17th season, we are announcing even more categories to honor your work. Along with our expanded web and interactive categories we have added categories in the areas of Social Media and Social Responsibility. Award of Excellence winners will have the opportunity to have their work showcased in the IAVA Winners Gallery.

“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.

• Kids Can Cope: This activity book from children for children who are living with change and loss features more than 60 pages of text offering numerous opportunities for children to describe what is happening, write down their questions, draw pictures, identify sources of help and engage in other activities to help them cope. $9.95
• Love Never Stops: This caring memory book for children of all ages includes guided pages for children to write or draw about their feelings. $7.95
• I Will Never Forget You Teen Journal: This journal is designed for teens grieving the death of someone they love. $9.95
• No Child Should Grieve Alone: This book includes information for parents, caregivers, school personnel, clergy and professionals working with children and adolescence. It includes information about different types of losses and saying goodbye, as well as a listing of all the centers and camps for grieving children by state. $12.95

Parga is a member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), the National Alliance for Grieving Children, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

These books, and others, are available at SolaceTree.org/bookstore or on Amazon.com. Proceeds from these books benefit peer support programs at The Solace Tree Child and Adolescent Center for Grief and Loss. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, The Solace Tree relies on philanthropy to help provide services to families. For more information on the Solace Tree, please call 775.324.7723 or visit The Solace Tree at www.solacetree.org.

Now in its fifth year, the Healthcare Hero ceremony is a non-profit event that benefits students seeking careers as healthcare educators. Over the years, the Nevada Business Magazine has donated $1000′s to local educational institutions.

In addition to founding (and continuing to run) The Solace Tree, Parga works as a Pediatric Thanatologist and bereavement consultant to Washoe County Social Services and Washoe County School District. He is also a trainer to hospitals, clergy, funeral homes, emergency services and businesses. He is the author of several books on grief, including “Love Never Stops.”

Click here to view >>

About NSET

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The summer edition of the Journal of Hope E-Newsletter has arrived!  In this issue, learn more about our upcoming Camp Solace grief camp, volunteer opportunities, the latest Solace Tree news and more!

Click below to download the newsletter in PDF form:

Journal of Hope E-Newsletter – Summer 2009

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