|

|
|
Our Vision:
A world where children coping with loss can grow up to be
emotionally healthy and productive.
Our Mission:
To normalize grief in our communities through education,
advocacy, and year-round support group programs for grieving children, teens
and adults.
Who We Serve:
We provide
services to children, teens and young adults who have lost a parent or sibling
to death. We also provide services for the children's surviving parent(s) or
caretaker.
Good Grief
Principles
We believe . . .
Grief is a natural reaction to loss
We all have within us the natural
capacity to heal after a loss
The duration and intensity of grief
are unique to each individual
Caring and acceptance assist in both
the grieving and healing processes Our Practice . . .
We accept and affirm all feelings in
our Support Circle
We provide caring support and serve
as companions on each individual's unique journey through loss
We are empathetic listeners and
compassionate witnesses, we listen with our hearts, eyes and ears
We believe every person has the right
to be heard and understood
We gather as a grieving community to honor each
other's stories and to hold hope in the presence of suffering
We care for ourselves with compassion
and understanding so that we may do the same for others
History
Good
Grief, Inc. was founded in December 2003 when a group of volunteers came
together as a result of their concern over the lack of on-going, effective
grief support services and grief education in New Jersey. Since day one, Good
Grief has been a community effort working towards making a big impact for New
Jersey's grieving children.
This
group of volunteers, the founders of Good Grief, Inc., held a three day Future
SearchTM Conference in April 2004 with over 60 grief
professionals, teachers, parents, children, nonprofit leaders and concerned
community members to create a future vision and actions for helping children
and families in grief. The two primary goals for action that came out of the
conference were first to create educational programs for the adults in children's
lives and, second, to provide accessible year-round direct service through a
grief support center.
It is
from that conference, the mission and the vision of Good Grief were created.
Two
months after the center opened in 2007 it became the fastest growing children's
grief center in the country and it has remained as such since its birth.
Today,
community members throughout NJ are invested in the success of this essential
resource to the more than 20,000 children in NJ who will lose a parent this
year.
Support
Center
On
September 11th, 2007, the Good Grief Center opened at Christ Church in Summit,
New Jersey, offering year-round peer support groups for parents and their
children, ages 3-18, and young adults, ages 18-29. The groups are facilitated
by highly skilled volunteers who have attended our 35-hour training program and
ongoing educational workshops. The volunteers are supervised by Good Grief
staff. In April 2011 Good Grief moved into its new home in Morristown, an 11K
sq. ft., beautiful children's grief center. As of June 2011 we serve
approximately 400 individual participants a year from 76 towns throughout New
Jersey on four Nights of Support. We are the fastest growing children's
bereavement center in the country as a result of the caring and safe community
we provide grieving families. Additionally, Good Grief also provides
educational workshops at the center and throughout New Jersey, within
community, school, and corporate settings.

The McKelvey Family Making a Difference
Brian P. McKelvey Teen Center Dedication
|
Board of Trustees
Robin Bogan, Esq. Pallarino & Bogan, L.L.P. Bob Anderson, Esq. Lindabury, McCormick and Estabrook, P.C. Jim Bucknam CEO, Freeh Group International Solutions Salvatore Gentile, Treasurer Entrepreneur Bil Hector SVP, Human Resources, CitiGroup Les Hollander Director Eastern Region, Pandora Music Richard Noecker, CPA Judy Roman President and CEO, Amerihealth New Jersey Patrick Sullivan - Chair Financial Advisor, Morristown Financial Group James Topor Senior Director Global Marketing, Merck Frances Travisano - Secretary Volunteer, At-Large Irene Weinberg Author and Entrepreneur, At-large
Honorary Board
Maria Housden, Chair Author, "Hannah's Gift" Kenneth Battiato CEO, TSS Facility Services, Union Jon M. Bramnick New Jersey Assemblyman Jordan Glatt President and CEO, Magla Products, LLC Mayor of Summit, NJ Thomas H. Kean, Jr. New Jersey Senator Nancy Munoz New Jersey Assemblywoman Rev Charles T. Rush Christ Church, Summit Lois Schneider President and Owner, Lois Schneider Realtors, Summit Molly Stranahan-Curtin Philanthropist and Author, Mendham
|
|
|