Staying true to our mission, creating moments of peace

Staying true to our mission, creating moments of peace

April 7, 2020

Dear Center Community –

There is one thing we wish you to know right now. Our hearts are with you. I hope you have been able to find some moments of peace amidst the uncertainty.

We have heard from our Center families whom have shared their longing to resume their time at the Center. We are doing everything to make this our priority. 

We are so humbled by the support of our beautiful team of peer support facilitators.  They are so giving. We treasure their gift of supporting all of our families. 

Our Board has been absolutely front and center. Their leadership and wisdom are exactly what we need right now.

Our staff have been so creative and flexible, working tirelessly together. 

Together, we will stay true to our mission – providing a safe space, loving peer support, outreach, and education to grieving children, teens, families and the community.

I wish to share inspiration from a dear friend of the Center – it truly resonates with the world in which we are all living.

“I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer when I was 12, and my dad managed to raise my sister and myself with as much normalcy as possible during an incredibly trying period of several years as she fought the disease and afterward. The fact that he managed to excel at work, care for my mother and give us such a normal childhood is something that I am in absolute awe of now as a parent. He inspires me to remember to cherish every moment that you have been given. It’s so important, even during the tough times.”  When Melissa thinks back on her life and her younger self she reflects that if she could have a conversation with her 18-year-old self, she’d offer the following: “Trust yourself.  When I was younger, I didn’t trust my inner voice to help guide me with decisions. Now that I’m a little bit older, I realize the importance of trusting your gut, both in your personal life and your professional life. You often know the right answer, you just have to believe that you do know.” – Melissa Dudley, Member of the Center for Grieving Children’s Development Committee and Corporate Philanthropy Manager at WEX.

We wish to share what your support has helped us accomplish. Together our team has been working behind the scenes to move the Center’s mission forward. A few updates to share with you:

• We continue to host staff meetings weekly virtually.
• We are supporting our families by phone and email.
• We have created a special technology team to research and implement the safest platform for our Peer Support groups to resume.
• This week we will start a series of “Center Chats”. Beginning with our facilitators, these will be opportunities for me to share real time updates and hear from you all. 
• Our Center staff participated in more than 30 webinars from topics of supporting families during Covid-19 to looking at ways to stay connected with our Center friends. 
• Our interns are recording story times on YouTube to share with our “littles”. 
• We are working hard on our communications to you all – through all social media. You will be hearing from us in a lot of new ways.
• This week we anticipate a phenomenal following to join us for a special webinar entitled “How to Navigate Stress in Isolation”. 
• Most of all, we are THRILLED to announce beginning next week, we will be rolling out testing for some of our Peer Support groups!

This road will continue to be difficult for all of us. If for ANY reason you want to reach out, you should. We are here – by phone, email or Zoom. 

We will get through this together and stronger. As always, we are here for you. 

Warmly,

Anne Heros, Executive Director
Julie Grosvenor, MD, Board President
Mary Larkin, Vice President
Kevin Chase, Treasurer
Robert Baldacci, Secretary
William Kany, At Large, Executive Committee
Shikha Vasaiwala, At Large, Executive Committee