Helping children cope with grief.

Sweets for a Sweetie

Dear Friends of Safe Crossing Foundation,

Because of your generous contributions to the Safe Crossings Foundation, the primary funder of the Safe Crossings Grief Counseling Program, the important work of helping children cope with grief continues at no cost to the participants:

• A mother, the surviving parent of an automobile accident that killed her spouse and one child, is requesting support and guidance in telling her 14- year-old child who is hospitalized that her father and sibling have died. A Safe Crossings counselor visits the local hospital to support the mother in communicating this tragic news to her daughter.

 

• Providence Hospice refers a family to a Safe Crossings counselor because a mother died the previous night and the father has not yet told his 5-year-old-son. The counselor provides the father assistance in telling the child of the death and provides support to the boy by playing games and reading books that speak to the process of grief in an age appropriate way.

 

• A 10-year-old whose single parent is terminally ill asks his school counselor for help. Safe Crossings is called on to provide the father with tools to communicate about his illness and impending death to his three children. The school counselor also ensures that Safe Crossings counseling and support is available after the father’s death.

 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 1.5 million children are living in a single-parent household because of the death of one parent. One out of every twenty children, age 15 and younger, will suffer the loss of one or both parents. These statistics don’t account for the number of children who lose a “parental figure,” such as a grandparent or other relative that provides care.

Children who experience major loss in their lives are at risk. They are:

• Five times more likely to commit suicide;
• Nine times more likely to drop out of high school; and
• Ten times more likely to engage in substance abuse.

The work that Safe Crossings does is extremely important to the health and well being of children who lose a loved one. We rely on you to provide the financial support so that Safe Crossings counselors can focus on these grieving children. In 2009, Safe Crossings anticipates that it will serve approximately 4,000 children in the King County community, as the Program strives to meet the needs of all grieving children in our community.

Your donation makes the following possible:

• 86 children and teens, as well as 101 volunteers, attended Camp Erin, Safe Crossings’ weekend-long grief camp held this August (21 more campers than in 2007);
• 19 schools in King County received Safe Crossings’ services in the form of grief support groups, counselor/teacher consultations, presentations to staff and parents, and one-to-one counseling for students;
• Safe Crossings continues to provide leadership and education to other organizations in King County who support children and families during the grief process; and
• The Program collaborates with Evergreen Hospice, Gilda’s Club, and WICS (Widowed Information and Consultation Services) to offer children’s grief support.

We hope that you will join us by supporting Safe Crossings’ free programs and services for grieving children and their families.


Please make your tax-deductible donation on-line today!

• $50 Supports a Teen-Group Meeting in a King-County Public School
• $75 Purchases six copies “I Miss You” children’s book about grief and loss
• $100 Pays for one Safe Crossings Counselor to visit the home of a grieving child
• $200 Buys grief support journals or workbooks for 20 children
• $500 Sends one child to Camp Erin
• $1000 Supports a six-month long support group specifically designed for grieving parents



Thank you for your generosity,

Safe Crossings Board of Directors

P.S. From a father whose children participated in the program: “We were so lucky to come across Safe Crossings in our time of need. Everyone we met was so caring and wonderful. Thank you for having so many great people right there ready to help us through our tragedy. It’s such a safe, safe environment for expressing difficult and painful feelings.”