Imagine A Center for Coping With Loss
The loss of a family member can be unimaginably hard. Indeed, it can be difficult for children to stay on track to succeed in the wake of the loss of a parent or sibling. Children in Newark are more likely than others in New Jersey to lose a family member, as it is estimated that 1 out of 9 black children in the state will suffer such a devastating loss during their childhood.
That is why HFNJ has provided three grants totaling $200,000 to Imagine A Center for Coping With Loss to bring their transformative work supporting grieving children to schools and other youth-serving institutions in Newark.
Over the first two years of the initiative, Imagine built the capacity of six Newark schools to support grieving students by taking the schools through a tiered approach to training with three levels of support from Imagine staff. Teachers received training on how to understand, accommodate, and support children through the grieving process. Thirty-six faculty members across the schools received training to become Grief and Loss Specialists, who could facilitate grief groups and offer support in times of crisis. Parent workshops provided support for the whole family. One grade in each school received in-classroom lessons on how to demonstrate compassion and help peers who are suffering a loss.
As the school-based program has blossomed, leadership of the KIPP and Uncommon Schools networks in Newark becoming aware of Imagine’s work, and invited Imagine to provide grief training to all counselors and selected leaders across their entire networks – greatly expanding the impact of the work to more Newark residents.
For the third year of the project, Imagine took their work from the schools out to the broader community. In addition to continuing their work building grief-supportive schools, they brought their staff training to after-school programs at the Boys and Girls Club of Newark. In addition, they will train Newark residents to become grief facilitators who can bring grief support to children in need.
Imagine’s over-arching goal statement when initiating this project – to “change the culture of grief in Newark” – was always an ambitious undertaking. But with the multi-faceted success of the program across schools and community organizations, Imagine is helping to change Newark from a place where the loss of a family member is something few wanted to talk about and few organizations were equipped to help young people navigate, to a place where grief support is robust, easy-to-access, and no longer stigmatized.