Support for Children
Healing and hope
Grieving kids of all ages, from infants to teens, need to be supported and nurtured. A child's family can be the first line of support, but after a death, often the family is suffering just as much as the child is, which can make it harder to find the energy or the concentration to reach out to the child.
A caring community can support the grieving child's normal, natural process of grief and encourage healing and growth. With that support, the grieving child can grow to find hope in the midst of their grief.
What is the Highmark Caring Place?
The Highmark Caring Place, A Center for Grieving Children, Adolescents, and Their Families, is committed to helping grieving children get the support they deserve.
A community resource, the Caring Place offers services at no charge to grieving families throughout the community. No insurance is necessary.
The Caring Place provides peer support to children who have experienced the death of someone important in their lives, providing a safe place where grieving children and families can come together and be with others who understand what they’re going through.
For families
The Caring Place offers comprehensive services to children and their families after the death of a loved one, including:
- Peer support groups
- Referral services
- Educational programs
- Adult telephone support and resources
For schools and other professionals
For schools and other professionals in the community who work with children, the Caring Place provides:
- Peer support groups in the schools
- Consultation services
- Educational presentations and trainings
- Resources, including brochures such as "Questions Grieving Children Ask" or "Preparing a Child for a Funeral or Cremation"
Grief and Love
- We grieve because we loved (and love still). Grief is born from the loss of a love relationship.
- Grief only comes to those who love and have opened their hearts to love.
- Grief is rooted in love.
- Grieving is allowing the pain of our losses to enter our hearts. True healing begins the moment we can face the reality of our losses and broken-heartedness.
- As we journey in grief we discover that while death has taken our loved one from us, the love lives on inside us.