Stephen Hallissey:  

I have been working for the past six years as a volunteer with a local group called Kidz n' Grief. It is an extension of the hospice program at Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News, VA The program is free and non- denominational. We meet twice a month from September to June and run a weekend camp in the fall. The children are grouped by age: Littles - 3-5 ; Kids 6-8; Tweens 9-12; and Teens 13-18. The number of children in each group varies from week to week.The parents meet separately. I am a facilitator for a group of 6 to 8 year olds who are dealing with the death of a loved one. The cause of death runs the gamut from natural(medical), auto accident, drug OD, suicide and murder. The last two categories are usually in the news. We create a safe and secure environment for the children to talk about how they feel and help them learn coping skills. It is an open ended program, the children stay with us as long as they want, some have been with us for several years and have moved from group to group. The children are precious and are dealing with a major void in their young lives. It is amazing to see how compassionate and caring they are for each other. When they are with us they can talk about their feelings knowing that we will listen and that they are not the only one dealing with grief. We recognize that this is their journey and we can't fix things for them but that doesn't mean that we don't wish we could. They touch my heart. I also volunteer with another group called Tradegy Assistance Program For Survivors (TAPS). This is a non-goverment service support organization that provides support to all(family members, girlfriends, boyfriends, buddies, etc)who have been affected by the death of a servicemember (all branches of the armed services)while on active duty. The place and cause of death (stateside/overseas, accidental, medical, combat, suicide) covers all categories and places , however the majority have been combat related. You can visit their site TAPS.org to see the full range of their services. When a service member dies and his/her family is living on a military installation they have several months to decide where they will move. Some decide to stay in the local area others move back home. Both solutions have their advantages and disadvantages. They have all the problems that many people have fitting in after a divorce plus many more. I have been a group facilitator and a mentor to several age groups the past five years at their Good Grief Camp held in the Washington area over the Memorial Day weekend. Camp starts Friday morning and ends with a closing ceremony late Sunday afternoon. The base of operations is a large hotel, adults in one wing/area, children in another. The children's area is basically the one with conference rooms on both side of a long hall. The children are organized by age and paired with a mentor (preferably from the same branch of service as their loved one). Grief work is done in the rooms, fun and games occur in the hallway (piggyback races, wheelbarrrow races, tag, frisbe, etc.) If you want to see the power of love, compassion, caring, joy and happiness , this is the place to be. OK, I'm a softie I admit it. We spend most of o...Expand for more