Solace Tree

The Solace Tree Featured in December RLife Magazine

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Excerpt from December’s RLife Magazine:

 

The holiday season can be especially difficult for individuals who are grieving the loss of a loved one. Some family members share that not having their loved one around during the holidays intensifies the pain of the loss. While others talk about the joy that can be experienced through continuing traditions special to the person who died, they too will remember the memories of past holidays by commemorating the deceased.

If you are like some people experiencing grief, you have many questions. It’s important to know there are no right or wrong answers-everyone grieves differently. There may be various answers depending upon the unique factors of you and your family’ssituation: who it was that died, when and how the person died, what your relationship was like with the person who died, and how involved you and your family were with the holidays, to name a few.

Here are some guidelines The Solace Tree participants have shared that are helpful to get through the holiday season. These are only suggestions. Shape them to fit your circumstances. Try to remember that many others have had experiences similar to what you’re going through right now. They have learned what it is like to endure and to survive and often even to grow through their experiences.

 

  • Embrace your memories; they are your greatest link to legacies that exist after someone dies. Talking about the person by sayingtheir name and sharing your memories with others really does help keep these days special.
  • Invite children in the family to help make choices or decisions

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The Solace Tree Thanks The Leo Buscaglia Foundation

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The Solace Tree wishes to thank The Leo Buscaglia Foundation for their $7500 gift and continued support of the charity’s center for grief and loss. The Solace Tree could not exist without the generous support of its volunteers and givers.  If you are interested in giving to the Solace Tree, visit our Donation page.

A Big Thanks to Bicsi For Their Generous Donation

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The Solace Tree wishes to thank BICSI for its generous donation giving during the organization’s fall conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Bicsi has generously donated $32,500 to The Solace Tree in support of its grief programs for children, teens, and adults. About BICSI BICSI is the worldwide preeminent source of information, education and knowledge assessment … Read more

Solace Tree Founder Named Citizen of the Year

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Emilio Parga, founder of The Solace Tree, has been honored with RGJ’s Reno Citizen of the Year 2007. About the Award Each year, hundreds of local residents help make Northern Nevada a better place to live.  Some have jobs or responsibilities that make headlines, but their accomplishments go beyond their job descriptions. They have a … Read more

Article In Washoe Family Magazine

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Original article published April 2007, in Washoe Family magazine.

In times of grief and sadness, there’s no better way to find comfort than breathing in fresh air and soaking up sunlight. That’s why for two weekends each year, 34 children, 16 adolescents, 25 volunteer facilitators, two nurses, a cook and two camp leaders gather in the great outdoors for bereavement camp.

In 2002, the Solace Tree was created as this community’s first non-profit organization to assist families and children with bereavement. When loved ones die, children and adults are faced with a tremendous range of feelings, which come and go at different times. These new emotions and the challenges of grief are diffcult pieces to fit into daily life, which is why we felt it was important to create a sort of escape, in the form of bereavement camp — some place to get away, if only for a few days, to become rejuvenated, to deal with feelings and to soak up that sunshine.

Our first camp, in the summer of 2006, was so popular that we, unfortunately, had to turn away 32 children and adolescents, simply due to a lack of space. We decided that from then on, we would hold bereavement camp two weekends a year, once in summer and once in fall.

These two camps — Camp Solace, held at majestic Glenbrook at Lake Tahoe, and Camp HUG at Eagle Lake — are both designed to help kids, ages 7 to 17, to grieve in a safe environment, as they learn

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The Solace Tree Receives Backyard Makeover

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Excerpt From KTVN News: Some Boy Scouts and local companies came together Friday to help kids who are suffering from grief and loss. Troop 7322 spent the day with Sierra Nevada Landscape and Dayton Valley Turf making over the backyard of the “Solace Tree.” It’s a home for children and teens that have lost their … Read more

Good Grief Newsletter – Vol. 1

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As you read this newsletter, think about where these children, adolescents and adults would have gone if we didn’t have a program that supported their grief. As I collect pictures, I am reminded of the courage that each child and adolescent has shown each day and every week as they attend the only place for grieving children and adolescents. We are here to listen, guide and teach. As a result, families are strengthened and parents are feeling more confident about their parenting skills as they too work through their loss.

We have a great board of directors that care deeply about our mission and building a stronger community for all of our children. I am grateful to have the many volunteers share their time and passion in our program as well as deeply honored that the community has chosen The Solace Tree – Child and Adolescent Center for Grief and Loss to make a contribution.

For the children,

Emilio

Home


Many of you may be aware that The Solace Tree used donated space for the past three years. We are very grateful for the space provided by Anderson Elementary School, Renown Health and Bailey Charter School. Over the past few months something magic has happened. The University of Nevada, Reno has help donate a house in an undisclosed space on campus.

As an organization we began to put down roots in this community, roots that have grown strong. Our home gives children and adolescents a place to call their own, a home where the rooms are always

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Solace Tree Reaches Out As Families Mourn

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By Erin Breen

At 34, Emilio Parga is full of life. He is fit, energetic and enthusiastic about his plans. It has taken him years of living to realize that his calling is in educating us about death.

“I have lost so many family members and friends,” he said. “When I was 11 years old, I lost my biological father. And there really wasn’t anyone there to talk to about it. I needed to hear from other kids who had lived through that kind of loss.”

When he was 14, Parga was hit by a truck while he was skateboarding with friends. That accident left him in a coma. He has scars that will last a lifetime.

“I started high school in a body cast,” he said. “Most of the kids who knew me didn’t know what to say or how to treat me, so they avoided me.”

As a second-grade teacher and counselor, Parga saw other young children who had lost parents or family members. He saw them searching for support, just as he had done years earlier. Then he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. During his own battle back to health, again, his future became clear.

” I could just feel it,” he said. “I was put here to help all kids understand and cope with these losses. I understand loss. I’ve been through it, and I can help.”

That was just two years ago. Parga has moved forward to make it happen. He has immersed himself in bereavement and grief counseling. He has met with

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