Children and Grieving - Choice Hospice

Children and Grief

Handling Childhood grief

Many adults tend to overlook the importance of how their children go through the grief process. Some of the biggest fears that parents and adults have to overcome when a loved one dies is, “How do I talk to my child?”, “What do we say to our kids?”, “How can I help this child?” We often try to find ways to avoid talking about death and grief to our children and leave them to figure it out on their own.

While these questions are intimidating, it hurts the children more when they go unanswered. This does not have to be the case. Please view the video below for encouragement and empowering words on how to discuss death and dying with our youth.

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We also provide bereavement services for children as well with small group and individual counseling sessions in order to help your child throughout this process as well.

Additional resources

If you’re looking for more specific resources to help your child through the bereavement process, or are unsure how to go about it, below are some places/resources for you to use if needed.

CAMP Live, Laugh, Love

Children’s Bereavement Network

PO Box 181

Gaylord, MI49734

(800) 861-8418

http://www.camplivelaughlove.org

For the Kids Foundation

219 Elm Street

Birmingham, MI 48009-6306

(888) 987-5437

http://forthekidsfoundation.org/

Survivors of Suicide Loss Support Group for Children and Teens

Common Ground

1410 S. Telegraph

Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302

(248) 451-2613

http://www.commongroundhelps.org

New Hope Center for Grief Support

113 E. Dunlap

Northville, MI 48167

(248) 348-0115

Starlight Ministries, Inc.*

3376 Central Avenue

Hudsonville, MI49426

(616) 662-1999

http://www.starlightmin.org

Provide Christ-centered peer to peer grief support to children and families. Additional programming is offered for families at our Family Care Center including “Make a Memory” Workshop, Adult Bible Study, exercise classes, teen nights and more. Additionally, we offer off site fun family events to help families create new memories together.

Lory’s Place*

445 Upton Drive

St. Joseph, MI 49085

(269) 983-2707

http://lorysplace.org

Lory’s Place is a family service center whose mission is to provide peer support group services for grieving children and their families. The Center is a focal point for raising awareness and supporting the needs of children and adults who grieve. Lory’s Place provides a safe, comforting atmosphere in which grief healing can take place following the death of a family member or important friend.

The Children’s Grief Center of the Great Lakes Bay Region*

P.O. Box 2763

Midland, MI 48641-2763

(989)495-9335

http://www.childrensgriefglbr.org

We offer peer support grief groups for children, teens and their families grieving a death. We are trained by, and modeled after the Dougy Center. We started our first groups in September 2014 and we meet the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month throughout the school year. We have an adult group that meets concurrently for caregivers of kids in our groups. We offer our services at no charge and rely upon the generosity of individuals, businesses, Professional organizations and local grants and foundations to fund our services.

Ele’s Place*

1145 W. Oakland Avenue

Lansing, MI 48915

(517) 482-1315

http://www.elesplace.org

Ele’s Place*

1582 Eisenhower Place

Ann Arbor, MI 48108

(734) 929-6640

http://www.elesplace.org

Ele’s Place*

2000 Michigan Street NE

Grand Rapids, MI 49503

(616) 301-1605

http://www.elesplace.org

Ele’s Place is a nonprofit, community-based organization dedicated to creating awareness of and support for grieving children and their families. Through peer support group programs, Ele’s Place helps children to cope with the death of a parent, sibling or other close family member or friend. Three branch locations support families throughout the Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Lansing areas and beyond