St. Louis Bereavement Center For Young People dba Annie's Hope The Bereavement Center for Kids

Direct beneficiaries per year: More than 3,000 grieving kids and families

Programs: Family Support Groups where kids, ages 3-18, and the adults who care for them, attend once a week for 8 weeks. Dinner is offered before groups begin each week. Approximately 20-25 families with 35-40 kids and 20-30 adults attending. School Support & Education offers weekly support in small groups for grieving students at their school, during their school day, with the co-facilitation of school personnel. Approximately 40 schools are served per school year with 6-8 students in each school group. Educational grief workshops are offered to school personnel and community professionals/volunteers throughout the year. Crisis Intervention services are always available to schools on an as-needed basis. Teen Retreats offer support groups to teens, ages 13-18, during an overnight weekend retreat. Approximately 10-12 teens attend each retreat. Camp Courage is a week long, overnight camp experience for grieving kids ages 6-11 and Camp Erin-St. Louis is for kids ages 12-18. Horizons is a family-centered, home based anticipatory grief support program to assist families who are anticipating a death. Family social events are offered as one-time opportunities for kids and families to connect with each other. They may include bowling, movies, picnics, skating, rock climbing, or craft activities. The Annual Hope & Healing Gathering is a holiday event that recognizes the upsurges of grief and sadness throughout the holiday season. It involves a candle lighting ceremony, tributes to the deceased, a family activity and refreshments the second Friday in December. Community Resource Library is a lending library of grief and loss materials that include picture books, academic books, guided journals, video tapes, audiotapes, etc. Grief Referral Service is a service that offers referrals for those who do not fit into our mission. Since we do not provide therapy or counseling, we refer to those who can provide one on one counseling or to adult groups in the community. Speakers Institute is a service that offers education to the public at large on the topic of grieving kids and families.