Journey of Hope Grief Support Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing group grief support to children, teens, and their parents or adult caregivers.
“This year we’re celebrating 25 years of healing hearts and renewing hope,” says Executive Director Patrick Bricker.
The Mission: To renew hope, foster healing, and develop resilience in the hearts of children and families grieving the death of a loved one.
The Vision: To keep lives whole for grieving children and their families.
How it Works
At Journey of Hope, kids and teens are not alone. When families arrive for their intake session, the kids receive a special bear. It’s very common to hear that this bear has a treasured place in kids’ hearts for years after the loss of their loved one.
When families arrive at support group meetings, they eat first. Volunteers provide and serve a meal, as well as assist parents with getting their families fed. Words cannot express what a welcomed support this is for grieving families. There are times it feels impossible to get through the day, but there are always group nights to look forward to with the knowledge that you do not have to think about cooking or cleaning up.
After the meal, children are placed in groups with other kids their own age going through similar circumstances. Kids and teens share special memories and talk about their loved ones in a nonjudgmental, confidential, and caring setting. While the kids meet in their rooms, adults and caregivers gather to express their own grief, discuss coping skills, and brainstorm ways to help their children navigate their journey of loss.
Hope for the Journey
From weekly meetings to special events like the annual 5K Walk of Remembrance and the Christmas Candlelight Ceremony, Journey of Hope offers completely free services to families in a warm, caring, and nurturing environment. Journey of Hope uses a peer group model for facilitation. Trained volunteer group facilitators lead participants in their personal journeys toward healing and healthy grief reconciliation. Facilitators pass a background check and participate in extensive training about bereavement, typical grief emotions and concerns for all ages, and strategies to lead peer grief support groups.
Licensed mental health professionals oversee all facilitators. Facilitators have diverse backgrounds and include mental health professionals, educators, and bachelors or masters level students. Most importantly, these facilitators have experienced the death of a loved one themselves. Using their own personal experiences, facilitators help kids develop healthy coping mechanisms in a supportive setting that allows children to understand loss and grief as natural parts life and focus on finding a “new normal." Groups are open-ended, so families can join at any point in their grief process. They may stay as long as they deem necessary. There’s no timeline for grief.
How can you help?
Donate: There are many ways to give including donating supplies directly from the organization's Amazon wish list. In honor of their 25th anniversary, JoH is selling commemorative bears that will be given to children entering the program.
Participate: Journey of Hope relies on kind, caring, and nurturing people like you to make a difference in the lives of the families they serve. By volunteering, you make this program possible.
Advocate: Like, Follow, and Share this information with others. You could be the necessary change in someone else’s family. Don’t hesitate — it makes a world of difference.
To learn more about the program and ways to get involved, visit johgriefsupport.org.