Bereavement Resources _______________________ New England Organ Bank "A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam, and for a brief moment New England Organ Bank its glory and beauty belong to our world. But then it flies on again, 60 First Avenue and though we wish it could have stayed, we feel so lucky to have Waltham, MA 02451 seen it." By Eunice Brown (800) 446-6362 www.neob.org For All Donor Families: The Center for Grieving Children National Donor Family Council: (207) 775-5216 800-622-9010 www.cgcmaine.org www.kidney.org Based in Portland, ME, The Center for Grieving Children serves Supported by the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), The National children, teens, and families through peer support, outreach, and Donor Family Council (NDFC) supports donor families and attempts education. The Center’s mission is to provide loving support that to fulfill their needs and expectations. The NDFC aims to enhance the encourages the safe expression of grief & loss and fosters resilience sensitivity and effectiveness of the organ and tissue procurement and emotional well-being. process, educate the public on the benefits of organ and tissue donation through the personal touch of donor family members, and Friends Way give support to donor family members as they grieve and heal. (401) 921-0980 www.friendsway.org For Bereaved Spouses: Friends Way (Families Reaching Into Each New Day) serves families throughout Rhode Island. Friends Way is committed to providing peer support to grieving families in a safe, nurturing environment. AARP Widowed Persons Service They assist children & their families through their grief with comfort 800-424-3410 and support from peers struggling with similar feelings of loss. www.aarp.org/families/grief_loss The AARP Grief and Loss Program is a national program that offers a Comfort Zone Camp variety of resources and information to adults who are bereaved. (866) 488-5679 Programs offered include community based one-on-one outreach, www.comfortzonecamp.org grief courses, support groups, and online support. Comfort Zone Camp is a bereavement camp that transforms the lives of children who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, or Young Widow.org primary caregiver. The camps offer age-based peer support groups www.youngwidow.org that break the emotional isolation that grief often brings. The camps YoungWidow.org is an organization exclusively dedicated to young serve children ages 7-17 and are held year-round across the country. widows and widowers. The mission of this organization is to provide a forum for young widows and widowers to connect, validate feelings and reduce isolation. Society of Military Widows: 1-800-842-3451 www.militarywidows.org ______________________________________________________________ The Society of Military Widows (SMW) is a non-profit organization We hope you find this information helpful during this difficult time. For that serves to support the interest of women whose husbands died information about additional grief and loss resources in New England, please while on active military duty, of a service-connected illness, or during visit our website (www.neob.org) to view our State-by-State Resource Guide, disability or regular retirement from the armed forces. or contact our Aftercare Department at (800) 446-6362 and we would be happy to assist you. For Grieving Children: For Bereaved Parents: The Dougy Center 866-775-5683 The Compassionate Friends, Inc. www.dougy.org 877-969-0010 The mission of The Dougy Center for Grieving Children is to provide www.compassionatefriends.org loving support in a safe place where children, teens, young adults and The Compassionate Friends assists families following the death of a their families can share their experiences as they move through the child of any age, offering friendship & understanding to grieving healing process. Through their National Center for Grieving Children parents and their families. They offer support groups for bereaved and Families, they provide support and training locally, nationally parents, as well as grandparents & siblings affected by the loss. They and internationally to individuals and organizations seeking to assist also provide resources to help others support grieving families. children in grief. Bereaved Parents of the USA The Cove Center for Grieving Children: 708-748-7866 800-750-2683 www.bereavedparentsusa.org 203-634-0500 Bereaved Parents of the USA (BP/USA) offers support, compassion www.covect.org and hope to bereaved families struggling to rebuild their lives after Based in CT, The Cove is a community based grief support program the death of a loved one. Open to all parents, grandparents & siblings for grieving children and families dealing with the death of an regardless of the age of the child or the circumstances of the death. immediate family member. The Cove creates safe harbors for grieving children and their families so they can begin to heal. Cove meetings Alive Alone take place throughout the state of CT. www.alivealone.org Alive Alone is an organization for bereaved parents whose only child The Children’s Room: has died, or who have experienced the death of all of their children. 781-641-4741 This group was founded by Compassionate Friends members who www.childrensroom.org wanted to acknowledge the unique grief of bereaved parents who Based in Arlington, MA, the mission of The Children’s Room is to have no surviving children. help grieving children, teens, and families to go on living and loving after the loss of a loved one. The Children’s Room offers facilitated One Bright Star peer support groups for both grieving children and their parents. www.onebrightstar.org PLEASE NOTE: Although the Children’s Room offers services for One Bright Star is a non-profit organization offering resources and families in Eastern MA, families from other areas of New England support for families who have experienced the death of a child. should feel free to contact them for a referral to similar programs close to home. Loss of an Infant, Stillbirth or Miscarriage: For Those Affected by Violent Death or Suicide: M.I.S.S. Foundation Parents of Murdered Children (POMC) 888-455-6477 888-818-7662 www.missfoundation.org www.pomc.com MISS is committed to helping families heal after the death of their POMC provides support and assistance to family members of baby or young child from any cause, eventually empowering them to homicide victims, while also working to create a world free of become volunteers & help others who have experienced a similar loss. murder. POMC offers support through local chapters, newsletters, They are also committed to public awareness and education to reduce online resources, and court accompaniments (in many areas). infant & toddler death and increase bereavement sensitivity. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention First Candle/SIDS Alliance 888-333-2377 1-800-221-7437 www.afsp.org www.sidsalliance.org The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to First Candle/SIDS Alliance offers bereavement services for those advancing our knowledge of suicide and our ability to prevent it. The impacted by SIDS or other infant deaths. First Candle offers support Foundation’s activities include supporting suicide survivors and groups, grief packets & resources, online resources and more. advancing research to better understand and prevent suicide. Connecticut SIDS Alliance PHONE: 866-574-7437 Survivors of Suicide www.survivorsofsuicide.com Rhode Island SIDS Alliance Survivors of Suicide is an independent, online grief support resource PHONE: 401-444-7608 for coping with a loved one’s suicide. New Hampshire SIDS Alliance PHONE: 617-828-4996 Alliance of Hope Maine SIDS Foundation www.allianceofhope.org PHONE: 207-657-2220 The Alliance of Hope for Suicide Survivors provides healing support for people coping with the shock, excruciating grief and complex Vermont - The SIMON Project PHONE: 802-476-0161 emotions that accompany the loss of a loved one to suicide. For Bereaved Grandparents: ___________________ Alliance of Grandparents, A Support in Tragedy (AGAST) 888-774-7437 www.agast.org AGAST helps grandparents not only understand their own unique grief, but also support and comfort their child as he or she mourns the loss of their own child. The organization offers information packets, personal peer contacts, and a quarterly newsletter. .