2nd Annual Draw Your Heart Out - Cancelled

We are sorry to announce this, however, the organizers of the event are going to postpone this event until sometime this winter. Things just weren’t working out as planned. The event will be planed for sometime this winter. Thank you for understanding and we are very sorry for any inconveniences this may have caused.

???? HOW CAN WE HELP YOU ????

By Coral Popowitz, Executive Director – Children’s Grief Connection

Whenever we answer the phone at Children’s Grief Connection we say, as so many ‘helpful’ organizations and companies do, “Children’s Grief Connection – How can I help you?” And you may have heard me say recently in these articles and in speaking with folks about our ‘new’ organization, that I envision Children’s Grief Connection as the leading resource in Minnesota for grieving children. So what does this all mean? What kind of resource? What kind(s) of help are we talking about?

To address that I’d like to introduce you to the staff at Children’s Grief Connection, tell you what we do, and how we can help – when you call, when you e-mail, when you’re talking with families or community organizations.

Jill Richards is our Office Manager and the coordinator of the Memorial Program. As office manager, Jill answers the phones and listens to requests, sometimes listening to grieving moms, dads, or grandparents’ stories of what happened in their life, how it’s affecting their children and wondering how/if we can help. Jill’s gentle voice relays information about Hearts of Hope Camp and Teen Retreat or the Family Grief Connection program and assures them their families will find some hope and healing from our programs. Jill is the primary contact for funeral directors involved or interested in the Memorial Program. If Memorial Program participants need help tracking their accounts, need a Hearts of Hope display, brochures or memorial donation envelopes for their funeral homes Jill is there to help. She helps funeral directors navigate the easy five-step process of the program - sending out letters to families served, telling them of the donation made in their loved ones memory from their funeral director and letting them know Hearts of Hope is available to children and teens in their family. Jill also does all of our organizational accounting work so she can help track any donations, receivables or payables. Jill works fifteen hours a week and is generally in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Her e-mail address is: jill@childrensgriefconnection.com.

Our newest employee, Stephanie Lee, better known as Sal, is our Development Associate. Sal will be working specifically with our individual donors, writing small grants and promoting Children’s Grief Connection through special events. Sal will be working on our Change for A Camper campaign throughout the year (more info to come on this) and at least two very exciting awareness and fundraising events coming this fall (stay tuned). With over 26 years in the wholesale and retail gift business, Sal has acquired a depth of experience in developing and implementing a variety of projects both large and small. From extensive experience coordinating large events to designing our shadow box funeral home displays Sal can help in promoting Children’s Grief Connection. Sal will soon launch the Change campaign, organize the upcoming fundraising events and is always looking for potential granting sources if your community or company has a charitable foundation. Any questions you have on ways to support our organization she can help. If you are interested in helping Children’s Grief Connection attain the funds needed to continue to provide ALL our programs and services FREE OF CHARGE to grieving children and their families, Sal’s the person to contact. She will be working ten hours a week; will be at all organizational fundraising events and in the office generally on Mondays and Wednesdays. Her e-mail address is: sal@childrensgriefconnection.com.

As Executive Director, one important area of focus for me is furthering the awareness of Children’s Grief Connection. Spreading the word, informing, presenting what we do, the programs and services we provide and who and how they benefit families and children is an honor and one of the best parts of my job. If you want people to know more about any aspect of our organization, I can help. Another equally important focus is sustaining the organization. That means, among other things, raising funds, keeping the organization on budget with a healthy cash flow and reserve fund. If you have any questions on our financial situation or support, I can help. I would add that sustaining the organization also includes a vision and plan for growth and continued thriving. This is an area that is particularly exciting and I can help articulate those strategies to assure our programs and services will be around for years and decades to come because we provide a necessary and important role in the grief process for children. As the administrator of the organization, I can help with all the things both Jill and Sal do if they’re not available. As a grief professional, my education, training and experience in counseling and in teaching about grief, specifically children’s grief allows me to help with any aspect or question about the grieving process and in particular how it affects children still developing – cognitively and emotionally. I am currently receiving training for national certification as a children’s trauma specialist. This will help me help you, help the children and families you serve who have had a particularly traumatic death occur – I would argue that any time a child has a sibling or parent/primary caregiver die, it traumatizes them. This will also help as Children’s Grief Connection grows our Community Grief Connection program reaching out to schools, day care centers and other children’s organizations to train, program or generally assist following a traumatic grief event. If your community of children experiences traumatic death(s), through Community Grief Connections I can help facilitate the grief needs of those involved in the months or years after the crisis has passed. This program was initiated when funeral directors, called for help in their community after the tragic death of four students in a school bus accident. We were able to provide a “Journey of Hope” day for the school and community on the anniversary of the tragedy as well as on-going grief resources in their area. Continuing to collect children’s grief resources throughout the state and collaborating with other similar organizations is how we are helping lead the way in bringing hope and healing to Minnesota’s grieving children. By far the most rewarding aspect of my work as Executive Director is when I slip on my jeans and sneakers awaiting the cheers of welcome, the hugs and tears, the laugher and silly songs at one of our three Hearts of Hope camp and teen retreat weekends, working alongside rock-star volunteers to help extremely grateful families through the most difficult times in their lives. That is why I can and will help you. All staff at Children’s Grief Connection are part-time; however, I am in the office Monday through Friday and will return any correspondence within 48 hours. My e-mail address is: coral@childrensgriefconnection.com.


These are but a few ways we at Children’s Grief Connection can help funeral service providers, school staff, community organizations, counselors and families with grieving children. You can reach us by phone at 218-372-8420 or 877-226-7632, by e-mail at info@childrensgriefconnection.com or through our website at www.childrensgriefconnection.com. We are here to help you.