Our mission is to create safe, supportive communities so that no child, teen, or family has to grieve alone

The Children’s Room is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting children, teens, and families in Massachusetts who are grieving. We provide free-of-charge grief support services, programs for schools and community organizations, and education and training for professionals.

Values

Communication. Connection. Empowerment. Honesty. Intention. Respect.

The Children’s Room is grounded in these core values, which guide how we show up for children, teens, and families who are grieving, how we work with one another, and how we partner with our community.

Vision

The Children’s Room was founded on the belief that every child, teen, and family grieving a death deserves a safe, supportive, and understanding environment.

We seek to broaden our impact by expanding access to grief support services, strengthening educational outreach, and deepening partnerships within our communities.

We aspire to be a leader in the field of childhood bereavement and a catalyst for transforming how grief is understood, acknowledged, and supported.

We envision a world where loss is met with understanding and patience, allowing grief to be integrated into life in ways that foster compassion, connection, and hope.

History

The Children’s Room was founded in 1993 by a group of caregivers who recognized a gap in how children and teens were supported after a death. That year, they received training from the Dougy Center for Grieving Children, which helped shape an approach to grief support that centered on children within their families and communities.

The name The Children’s Room reflects both the organization’s beginnings—services initially took place in a single room at Hospice West in Waltham, Massachusetts—and the founders’ broader vision: to create a dedicated, welcoming space where children and teens could openly grieve, something that was largely unavailable at the time.

In 1995, work began to establish The Children’s Room as a nonprofit organization, and in April 1996 it became an independent 501(c)(3). By 1999, the organization had moved to a church basement, supported by eight experienced volunteers serving seven families. Within one year, the number of people served had quadrupled. In 2004, The Children’s Room opened its permanent center in a Victorian home in Arlington, Massachusetts, later renovated in 2013 to expand space for programs.

Co-founder Phyllis Silverman helped shape the organization’s philosophical foundation through her role as co-principal investigator and project director of the Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital Child Bereavement Study. Her research advanced the concept of continuing bonds, which remains central to The Children’s Room’s bereavement model. Alongside co-founders Jean Marchant and Judy Oliver, she continued to serve as a close advisor to the organization.

Today, The Children’s Room serves more than 4,000 children, teens, and families each year through center-based, school-based, and community programs. Since its founding, the organization has grown from a grassroots effort to a $1.9 million organization in 2025 and is now the leading independent nonprofit child bereavement center in Massachusetts, supporting communities throughout eastern Massachusetts.