HEALING PATCH CHILDREN'S GRIEF PROGRAM

The Healing Patch program offers supportive services to grieving children and families who have experienced a significant death. As shared below, services are provided in multiple ways. All services are available free-of-charge.

Family Session Peer Support Groups

These groups are designed for children preschool age through 18 years and their families who have suffered the death of a significant person. Families meet twice a month throughout the school year at the Blair County center. In this safe environment, children break into age-specific groups, and caregivers break into their own groups. Volunteers facilitate activities and discussions for participants to express their feelings, share memories, and relate to one another as they discover that hope and healing are possible. 

Young Adult Groups

Peer support groups are offered for adults aged 18-25 who are grieving the death of a significant person. Groups meet twice a month from October to May.

Family Grief Workshops

Held several Sundays each year in Cambria County, these workshops offer families a supportive space to navigate grief together. Through guided activities focused on emotions, memories, coping, changes, and connection, families take steps toward healing with the help of staff and volunteers.

School Services

Patch Club In-School Groups

Healing Patch staff and/or volunteers co-facilitate six-week long peer support groups with school personnel (i.e. school counselor, social worker). Through activities and discussions, participants address issues surrounding the death, feelings, fears, memories, changes, and rebuilding.

Grief Education in the Classroom

Healing Patch staff and/or volunteers present grief/loss and death/dying information as part of middle/high school health class curriculum. Students learn about the grief process, how to support a peer who is grieving, and how to seek out supportive services through their school and community.

Educational In-Services

Healing Patch staff and/or volunteers present educational workshops/in-services to school personnel, Parent-Teacher Organization members, or groups of parents/caregivers on various grief-related topics. 

Community Resources

The Healing Patch offers a variety of resources, such as printable children’s bereavement cards, informational guides about developmental stages of grief, and a lending library of books and other resources.