Kates Club has been a godsend for my family! The organization provides an outlet for healthy expression of childhood grief with a tremendous staff and volunteers who devoted and compassionate! And all this is FREE to those who need the program! AMAZING!!
We learned about Kate's Club through the worst possible circumstances but we couldn't be luckier. Kate's Club has been a beacon of light through the hardest of times and it continues to be a place where my daughter can share her feelings in a non-judgmental arena. Support, smiles, and understanding people are there for you every time you walk through the doors of the clubhouse. Kate's Club helps to make it easier to deal with the loss of a loved one - for people of all ages. THANKS!
I have been volunteering here over 3 years and I thoroughly enjoy it. The kids all have suffered a loss of a parent or guardian, but it is their zest for life that is so admirable. Kate's Club has several ways to volunteer such as outings, club house days, family night, family orientation and holiday hugs.
It is also a great place to find like minded people and having fun during our training sessions and other events.
Kate's Club is amazing! I have been volunteering for over six months and have nothing but positive things to say. Volunteering at Kate's Club is always the highlight of my week!
The staff (and volunteers) is incredibly talented, professional, educated, caring, and fun. They have created an environment that not only helps grieving children and their families, but they also develop their volunteers as well. I am continuously impressed with how organized they operate and how much experience they have.
Several years ago I went through my own grief journey with little to no support; I know first hand that the impact that Kate's Club has on these children and their families is profound. In just the past 6 months I have seen children open up, grow, and express themselves. I hope that one day there is a Kate's Club in every major city because the work they do is amazing and has really helped those who are in need of support.
Kate's Club holds a very special place in my heart. I was 25 when my dad died - an independent adult, oldest of 5 and a giver in all regards. During my grief journey and co-dependcy recovery, someone very wise connected me to KC and encouraged me to attend an event. I did, and fell in love with the cause. About 6 months later, I realized my baby sister (17 years difference) NEEDED to be there. We both gain so much from KC in such different ways and I'll forever support this awesome team!
Kate's Club is heaven sent. My father died when I was 8 years old and there was no Kate's Club around for me. Fast forward 10 years later, living in another state, and attending college I became a volunteer with Kate's Club. At 18 years old, working hand in hand with the children and teens I have seen tremendous growth within myself. The kids give me life and I can't be without them for a long time. As a kid who lost her dad, Kate's Club taught me that I am not alone and it is okay to grieve. I have found such a great supporters to my life working with other volunteers and the kids. It's an amazing feeling walking into a room where the kids and volunteers know each other by names and not "the boy in the blue shirt". Kate's Club leaves an lasting imprint on your heart.
Kate's Club is NOT a place where you are being examined. Kate's Club is NOT a place where you feel judged. Kate's Club is NOT a place where people are trying the find a 'problem' with you. Kate's Club is NOT a place where you sit and remember your loved ones, in a room - at an empty table.
At Kate's Club I laugh more than I cry, smile more than i'm sad. The reasons I keep going back to Kate's Club: 97% I have so much fun! 1%I have great friends (volunteers & kids) 1% I'm still growing within my grieving process 1% I love the see the children grow through their grieving. (percentages not to scale: the point is.. it's fun!)
If you're looking for a place to play, share, and grieve with one another I urge you to start with Kate's Club. Don't go to another organization and get a bad taste in a child's life about 'what' support is. Us kids who lose a mom, dad, sibling, grandparent, etc. are grieving. Grieve in style with friends at Kate's Club where you are never alone!
Kate's Club is One-of-a-Kind!
Both my parents died when I was 14. There was nothing like Kate's club back then. Kate's club empowers kids who have experienced the death of a parent or sibling. It helps these children understand their grief in an environment with others going through the exact same thing they have gone through. I've been with Kate's club over almost 5 years now and to see the development of the kids as they've grown in the program is simply amazing!
I have been volunteering with Kate's Club for almost a year now and am so happy I decided to make this organization a part of my life. Not only does Kate's Club provide a safe place to come together for children and teens who are overcoming the death of a parent or sibling, but it allows these kids to express themselves during their grief journey and connect with others that are going through the same thing. I have seen kids, who have never opened up before, grow to want to talk about their experiences as other kids share. It's truly an organic experience that only an organization like Kate's Club could facilitate.
Lane and Debra, directors at Kate's Club, run quite the operation! I can always count on them to offer advanced training for buddies who want to learn more about grief and how to work with children through the many stages of grief. Let me tell you, these advanced trainings are super helpful as I, myself, have not experienced such a close loss in my life. They also play very hands on roles during clubhouse days and outings. The success of the organization would not be where it is today without these two women!
I first heard of Kate's Club through the Junior League of Atlanta. I wanted to choose a placement that would be both fun/engaging with children but also would give back in a unique and significant manner. It has been an utter delight to work at Kate's Club over the last two years and I recommend it to people constantly. While the program itself serves a cause that you almost never hear of and the kids are just amazing, one of the best aspects is how great the staff is at creating a positive, engaging and exciting volunteer program. I've never worked with a team that is so organized, on-point and helpful. There is literally not a bad word I can say about this organization, the people who run it and the children it serves. Definitely one of Atlanta's best!
Kate’s Club is a non-profit organization that empowers children and teens facing life after the death of a parent or sibling. By creating friendships with kids and young adults that share the experience, Kate’s Club guides children through their grief journey in a comfortable, safe, and uplifting setting... They do JUST that! I have custody of my now 7 year old nephew (Daniel) since the death of his mother (my sister) and his baby brother in 2008, his father having died in 2007. With his oldest brother dying January 2012, my little one has been forced to repeat the death cycle over and over again. Daniel loves going to Kate's Club for the camaraderie he feels with the other children who have all lost a parent or a sibling. He has opportunities to have fun and to just be a kid around other kids who don't look at him funny when he says he wishes he knew what it was like to have a dad play with him. He is around other kids who struggle with some of the same thoughts they are afraid to express. Being at Kate's Club, Daniel has become less introverted, less tense, less angry, less detached... He has become brighter, happier, more open to trying new things, less concerned about how his classmates will view him when no dad comes for donuts with dad and when he doesn't write a card for mother's day. We love the counselors and buddies at Kate's club and are ever grateful for the reprieve they provide in our lives. On event Saturdays, I finally have an opportunity to be selfish and get 6 hours to myself to run errands, to enjoy Piedmont Park, or to stroll in stores at Atlantic Station that otherwise would be too boring for a child. I don't have help from other family members (mine or his father's side) or a spouse. Raising this child is me, his school teachers, and Kate's Club. Thank you Kate's Club... for everything.
As a volunteer for over four years now, I've had the opportunity to work first hand with these children. I've seen them grow together with others in their grief journey through experiences at the clubhouse, within the community and in a school setting. I am humbled by their ability to express emotion and share memories with children and adults who very quickly are no longer strangers but others sharing the life path carved out by loss.
The thing that sets Kate's Club apart, in my opinion, is the balance they have found between fun, community, family, and healing. Children don't come in only to find a circle of people sitting together talking about grief, but instead find a wide variety of therapeutic approaches to healing. At times this may look like an art project expressing emotion, a song to conjure up a memory, or a tree climbing adventure to build courage. Quit often though, it looks as simple as a group of children gathering together over a pizza box getting to know each other, knowing already there is one thing they have in common.