How Does Elijah's Place Support Grieving Children?
Elijah’s Place provides ongoing grief support services to children, ages 5 to 18, who have experienced the death of a parent or sibling.
Children grieve differently than adults. For that reason, it is important to allow them to communicate their feelings with other children who can understand. There is no fee for services through Elijah's Place.
Elijah’s Place grief support provides a setting for age specific group support sessions for the children (ages 5-7, 8-10, 11-13, and 14-18). Parents and children come to Elijah’s Place two evenings each month. Participation in the program can last 12 to 18 months, or until the family decides they no longer require the services.
Catholic Charities of Southeast Texas is a member of the National Association of Gifted Children.
Support Sessions
All support sessions are led by trained group facilitators who are supervised by a licensed professional. During the session, children get to participate in a variety of board games and arts and crafts activities to help them express their feelings.
The evening for volunteers begins at 5:30 p.m. for a pre-meeting and ends after the post-meeting at 9:30 p.m. The evening for the families begins at 6:30 p.m. with a meal, followed by support group sessions, and ends at 8:30 p.m. with a closing song.
What’s in a name?
The name “Elijah’s Place” is taken from a portion of the biblical story about the prophet Elijah’s experience when he hid in a cave, finding himself alone and afraid. The word of the Lord came to him, not in the strong wind, the earthquake, or the fire; but rather in a “tiny whispering sound” and he was told to go back out and live. It is our desire that Elijah’s Place will assist grieving children and their families to understand and learn to live with their grief, to hear the “tiny whispering sound” and go out and live
Click here to see a list of items that are gratefully accepted as donations.
Additional Links:
https://www.centerforloss.com/bookstore/griefwords/
https://sesamestreetincommunities.org/topics/grief/
www.Judishouse.org/cbem
https://childrengrieve.org/awareness/childhood-bereavement-estimation-model-cbem
2019 CBEM Texas Stats
2019 CBEM USA Prevalence Map
2019 CBEM USA Prevalence Rates