Reflecting, Learning, and Growing Together: Highlights from the 28th NACG Symposium
What does it mean to support a child through grief in today’s world?
That question brought together hundreds of professionals, clinicians, educators, nonprofit leaders, researchers, and program staff at the 28th National Symposium on Children’s Grief hosted by the National Alliance for Children’s Grief.
As members of this national alliance, The Children’s Room was proud to attend, connect with colleagues from across the country, and share our work. Our Executive Director Jon Gay, and Marketing Manager Zoe Laurente, co-presented a session on how TCR uses ethical, story-centered communications to raise awareness, invite engagement, and honor the experiences of children, teens, and families.
Though each organization brings a different lens to grief support, we’re united by a shared belief: no child, teen, or family should have to grieve alone.
Belonging Doesn’t Always Happen in a Room
In one breakout session, psychotherapist Brian Keating used Minecraft to demonstrate how children and teens can process grief in creative, symbolic ways by building memorials, designing safe spaces, or exploring emotional themes through play.
While TCR doesn’t use Minecraft in our programming, the core concept resonated. We see similar expressions during our monthly teen events, where connection is built through shared experiences from cooking together, going to a game, or simply hanging out with people who understand.
At TCR, children create art, engage in play, and participate in hands-on activities that explore memory and emotion. These moments remind us that connection doesn’t always come through words. It can happen through movement, creativity, and shared presence.
Support Is Not One-Size-Fits-All
Another powerful session, led by Dr. Tashel Bordere, focused on adapting the Resilient Parenting for Bereaved Families (RPBF) program for African American caregivers. The takeaway was clear: culturally responsive grief support must go beyond translation. It begins with listening, co-creation, and honoring lived experience.
We’ve been moving in this direction at TCR as well. This year, we launched our first Spanish-speaking peer support group in partnership with Charlestown High School. Led by our Program Coordinator Corina Garcia-Reyes, LMHC, the group was not just a direct translation, but a trust-building, culturally attuned offering shaped by the community it served.
Cultural adaptation isn’t a one-time task, it’s a long-term process that requires intention, humility, and collaboration. We’re committed to continuing that work.
Investing in Learning, Together
Being part of the symposium wasn’t just about attending sessions—it was about actively investing in our team’s growth, strengthening our work, and ensuring we’re learning from others doing this work across the country.
Grief support is evolving, because it has to. And when we learn together, we grow together. Not just as organizations, but also in how we support grieving children, teens, and families.
What we bring back to TCR from spaces like this is more than inspiration, it’s new insight, renewed clarity, and a deeper understanding of what care can look like in practice.
We’re grateful to be part of this national alliance and to keep building this work in the community.
