For the second year in a row, The Vivs graciously put on a Holiday Benefit & Bash to support The Children’s Room.

Thanks to The Vivs and everyone who came out for this fun evening – the $1,500 you raised supports a child in our program for a year!

The Vivs 2nd Annual

Rock & Roll Holiday Benefit & Bash

for The Children’s Room

featured Big Dipper, Bill Janovitz & Tanya Donelly, The Vivs, Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, and The Lesley Ellis Children’s Chorus

also featured The CCC Bell Choir

sponsored by Narragansett Beer  *  Brett Milano Emcee

Saturday, December 17th, 2011

The Regent Theatre

6:30pm

Application deadline has been extended to December 9th! Don’t miss out on this opportunity!

Through the generosity of the John Hancock Foundation, five Boston Marathon bibs have been allocated to The Children’s Room. If you are interested in running this Spring to raise awareness and funds for TCR, we invite you to submit your information for consideration.  Applications will be accepted until December 9th. Final bib recipients will be announced by December 23rd so that training can begin!

To apply, click the link to download our 2012 TCR Marathon Runner Application and submit your completed application by e-mail to Kim@childrensroom.org or by mail to:

If you would like to find out more information, please email Kim@childrensroom.org

The Children’s Room will be closed on Thursday, November 24th and Friday, November 25th to observe the Thanksgiving holiday. We will resume our normal business hours starting Monday, November 28th.

We wish everyone a peaceful and restorative time spent with loved ones and great food!

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

Children’s Grief Awareness Day is observed every year on the Thursday before Thanksgiving Day. We invite you to take this opportunity to learn more about how children grieve and find resources to help support grieving children in your family or community.

Grief affects more children than most of us realize, and children express their grief in many different ways. Being aware of how children of different ages experience grief can help you educate others in your community about what grieving children need.

One by one, we can create a safe and caring community where grieving children and their families can receive support and the hope that comes from knowing they are not alone.

To learn more about children’s grief, visit our Resources page.

To learn more about Children’s Grief Awareness Day, visit the website for the National Alliance for Grieving Children.

To find out how The Children’s Room can help your school, religious community or other group learn how to support the grieving children you work with, please contact our Director of Education & Training, Deborah Rivlin, at deborah@childrensroom.org.

Memories That Move Us – Our annual Memories Walk was a wonderful day for our community, and we thank our many supporters for being part of our biggest walk ever!  Please check back soon to see more photographs from the day, featuring walkers in bright green shirts. We will also be posting more news about how this event helped with our fall fundraising efforts to support The Children’s Room.

Still want to donate to this year’s walk? It’s not too late to make an online contribution at  Firstgiving.

Again, we thank our generous walk sponsors, all the friends and volunteers and donors who made our Memories Walk a success again this year, and we especially thank the Arlington Hockey Club for another amazing year of support!

We join communities throughout Massachusetts in honoring the 9/11 Anniversary. Nearly 3,000 children lost a parent who died from the attacks on September 11th, 2001.

Ten years after losing her husband, Teresa Mathai shared some of her memories and reflections with us. “Ten years ago, on September 11, 2001, when I heard my husband Joseph Mathai was at a conference at Windows on the World at the WTC and missing after the buildings collapsed, I was in shock and overwhelmed. As a mother with two young kids, I did not know how to break the news to them and how to face the uncertain future ahead. Good friends of ours, Joe and Candy Bergantino, suggested that I call The Children’s Room, which I did. Our family will never forget the kindness and loving support we received from The Children’s Room from those early days of this tragedy, and we will forever be grateful for the continued friendship we have maintained all these years!”

Here at The Children’s Room, we work every day to help support grieving families, and we know that the death of a parent or sibling remains one of society’s least understood and least supported issues. Yet we are inspired daily by stories of courage, and stories of families who turn loss into healing.

Teresa Mathai recently helped Boston families record their memories of loved ones when the 9/11 Memorial Museum visited Boston, through a series of audio recording sessions at The Children’s Room. One of those who shared his story was Franklin Ross, whose father died on 9/11.

Franklin wrote a book of poems to honor his father, and his poetry illustrates how creative expression can transform pain into meaning and beauty. His collection of poetry honors the life of his father Richard Ross, and shines as a beacon of hope for others who have experienced a profound loss. We offer a link so you can read more about the collection of poems by Franklin Ross. Franklin has generously offered to donate part of the proceeds from his book to The Children’s Room.

Two women who have become part of our circle of support at The Children’s Room are Susan Retik and Patti Quigley, who were both widowed on 9/11. Together, Susan and Patti have helped hundreds of widows through the foundation they built together, called  Beyond the 11th . The Children’s Room is grateful for the generous support we have received from the David E. Retik and Christopher D. Mello Foundation, which in turn has helped sustain our programs for grieving families in Massachusetts.

Our Director of Education and Training, Deborah Rivlin, worked with Boston-area 9/11 families for years. In a Boston Globe article this past week, Deborah reflected; “The loss is forever, you are changed forever, but you learn to integrate the loss into your life. There’s an opportunity that comes, in finding ways to make meaning of the loss.”

As a resource to our community, we offer a list of suggestions for talking to your child about the tenth anniversary, recommended by the National Alliance for Grieving Children.

The NAGC’s 15th annual symposium took place in Boston this year! This symposium brought together professionals in the child bereavement field to share their best practices concerning programming, research, measurement, fundraising and other topics. This colorful photograph shows artwork created by attendees from our NAGC workshop, “Winter Always Turns to Spring.”

Over 300 representatives from child bereavement programs across the country came together in June to share and learn about the important issues facing the many grieving families we serve.

Staff from The Children’s Room presenting at the symposium included Laurie Moskowitz-Corrois, Deborah Rivlin, and Colleen Shannon.  They are pictured here with Phyllis Silverman (board member and internationally known author and bereavement researcher) as well as our Executive Director, Donna Smith Sharff. Our workshops were well attended and widely appreciated!

We shared an expressive arts activity we had used this spring in our groups as we explored different feelings. The discussion that unfolds is around growth (the petals), support (the stem), comfort (the leaves), and a child or teen being at the center of their own life, with the person who died always being a part of them.

As Laurie Moskowitz-Corrois explains, the metaphor “winter always turns into spring” can become a rich dialogue using the understanding of the seasons to deepen our awareness of the cycles of life and death and personal meaning making.”

Email info@childrensroom.org if you’d like to find out more about our workshop materials. For a detailed description of the expressive arts intervention on Spring Flowers, please click here.

Tours of The Children’s Room are open to those in our communities who would like to learn more about how peer support groups help grieving children, teens, and families.

Guests hear a heartfelt welcome from a board or staff member, then take a 45 minute walk through the house.

People tell us after the tour that they are incredibly moved and say they can now picture what happens in our program. They enter expecting to find a sad atmosphere, and instead they leave feeling surprised by the colorful and comforting surroundings at the house, and the stories of hope and inspiration. Visit the Community Tours page for more information.

Please RSVP or make inquiries to:  Kim@childrensroom.org

For families interested in applying to the program:
Please contact michele@childrensroom.org for Family Orientation dates.

The candle lighting events listed below have already taken place. If you know of other remembrance events or gatherings, please send them to info@childrensroom.org so that we can share them with the rest of the community.

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The Visiting Nurse and Community Health’s Hospice Care invites you to their Celebration of Light Holiday Service – a service of comfort and hope especially for those experiencing loss.

Thursday, December 8th, 2011 at 7:00pm

Church of Our Saviour

21 Marathon St., East Arlington, MA

For more information, please contact Nancy Strong, Hospice Bereavement Coordinator at 781-643-6090 ext. 1342. Download the flyer here.

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The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting is hosting their 15th annual candle lighting on December 11th, 2011.

This memorial event will happen worldwide at 7:00pm local time, creating a virtual wave of light as hundreds of thousands of persons in all time zones commemorate and honor the memory of children in a way that transcends all ethnic, cultural, religious, and political boundaries.

Many people will participate in this memorial in their own homes or small groups, but you are welcome to join the Greater Boston Chapter of The Compassionate Friends for their candle lighting gathering in Jamaica Plain.

December 11th, 2011 from 4:00pm to 8:00pm

Forest Hill Cemetery, 95 Forest Hill Ave, Jamaica Plain, MA

Read about the details for this event and download the event flyer here. Pre-registration is recommended. Register by calling Linda Strother at 617-288-8068 or e-mailing thecompassionatefriendsofboston@hotmail.com.

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We warmly invite you to come to The Children’s Room for our

Circle of Light Community Candle Lighting

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

6:30pm to 7:30pm

at The Children’s Room in Arlington, MA

Readings, a community art project, and refreshments will all be part of the evening. Please RSVP to Sarah at sarah@childrensroom.org or 781-641-4741 if you are interested in attending.

You can download a flyer for this memorial evening by clicking here.

Please join The Children’s Room for an evening of remembrance, comfort and hope…

In this season of light, remember the light
your loved one has brought to your life.

Using the expertise developed through working with hundreds of grieving children, teens, and adults, The Children’s Room educates the community about issues related to grief and loss. Teachers, social workers, and others who work closely with children and young adults will benefit from learning tools and strategies needed to support those impacted by a loss, crisis, or trauma.
* Workshops take place at TCR from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.
* Continuing education credits available for social workers, counselors, and teachers.
* Click here for a registration form.

Visit the Workshop Series page on our website for more information about workshops, registration and continuing education credits.

Presented by Deborah Rivlin, MA
Director of Education & Training.
Deborah has worked in the field of bereavement for 35 years.

For more information about workshops,trainings,and consultations contact:
Deborah@childrensroom.org or call 781-641-4741 x321