New Resource Available for Bereaved

October 12, 2011 at 07:20 AM
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According to the National Alliance for Grieving Children, more than one in seven young Americans will lose a parent or a sibling before they turn 20. The Alliance also found that there are not enough resources available for grieving children and parents and when there are, the bereaved have trouble knowing where to look.

The results, on the heels of a survey by The New York Life Foundation and the National Alliance for Grieving Children, prompted the creation of A Child in Grief, a website created for parents, families and educators to help support bereaved children.

The New York Life Foundation, the charitable arm of the The New York Life Insurance Company in conjunction with the Sesame Workshop, realized the need for the site after the results of the survey. The site is comprised of personal stories, essays, and videos that will help both the bereaved and educators working with the bereaved. The website also offers visitors a database of local support services on a state-by-state basis.

"In my experience, the people who this tool could benefit the most are the educators and guidance counselors in the bereaved child's school system," said Mathew Daly, a marble and granite salesman who lost his mother at the age of 12. "Although one would assume that they deal with this somewhat often a lot of them tense up when speaking with the bereaved. Although they were trained somewhere in their past on how to approach this, a constantly evolving resource would benefit all parties involved."

"Through our research and support of childhood bereavement programs, we saw an urgent need for this site," Chris Park, president of New York Life Foundation said in a statement. "Many adults don't know where to turn to help children on their grief journey." 

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