The Bereavement Program at St. Louis Children’s Hospital desires to provide parents, families and the community with resources that meet people where they are and will be of help moving forward on the journey of healing from loss. The following lists of organizations, printable resources, books and more are not comprehensive. We would love to hear from you if you have found something here to be particularly helpful or not, or if other resources we may have missed have strengthened you on this journey.  Each life, each death, each child, and each relationship is unique. It is our hope that these resources will be helpful to you.

Organizations with local meetings:

Compassionate Friend: The Compassionate Friends offers more than 660 meeting locations around the country. In small towns and large cities, bereaved parents, siblings, and grandparents meet together to talk, listen, share, and provide each other emotional support after the devastating death of a child.
https://www.compassionatefriends.org/find-support/chapters/

GriefShare: We are a friendly, caring group of people who will walk alongside you through one of life’s most difficult experiences. You don’t have to go through the grieving process alone. Groups are starting all the time all over the Missouri, Illinois and beyond.
With Questions, please call 800.395.5755
Email: [email protected]
http://www.griefshare.org/findagroup

National Share: For families experiencing the loss of a newborn, including weekly support groups throughout Missouri and Illinois
National Share Office
402 Jackson Street, St. Charles, MO 63301
Cathi Lammert, RN / 636.947.6164 / 800.821.6819
Email: [email protected]
http://www.nationalshare.org/

BJC Hospice:
Daybreak- A one day retreat for couples who have lost a child aged 29 and younger
Weavings- A one day retreat for mothers who have lost a child 29 years old or younger
Andrea Tritinger / 314.953.1676
Email: [email protected]
http://www.bjchospice.org/GriefSupport.aspx

Bereaved Parents of the USA: Support groups that offer understanding, compassion and hope, especially with newly bereaved parents, grandparents or siblings struggling to after the death of a child.
Hotline 314.878.0890
http://www.bereavedparentsusa.org/

Family Hospice of Belleville: Aching Arms is a support group in Belleville, IL. for parents who have lost a child of any age.
Kris Grawitch / Diana Cuddeback / 618.227.1800

St. Alexius Hospital: The “Parents of Murdered Children” group meets on the 3rd Tues. of month 7:30pm-9:30pm
3933 S. Broadway St. Louis, MO 63118
Mata Weber / 618.972.0429

Infant Loss Resources: For families who lose an infant to sudden death through 1 year old
314.241.7437

Healing Hearts Grief Support: Healing Hearts Grief Support offers grief support groups for children, teens, adults and families who have lost a loved one.
Mary Schrader / 314.810.4055
Email: [email protected]

Specifically for Children

Annie’s Hope The Bereavement Center for Kids: A community based non-profit organization that provides comprehensive services to children, teens and families who are grieving the death of someone significant.
314.965.5015
Email: [email protected]
http://www.annieshope.org/
Programs and Services: http://annieshope.org/programs/

BJC Hospice: Bereavement Camps for youth
Stepping Stones Bereavement Camp is held in August for ages 6-12 years old.
Labyrinth Bereavement Day is for teens ages 12-18.
Andrea Tritinger / 314.953.1676 / 314.872.5050
http://www.bjchospice.org/GriefSupport/ForChildren.aspx

Printable Resources

Shared with permission: Dr. Alan Wolfelt at The Center for Loss and Life Transition. Mary Ann Harter Janson, Self-Help Correspondence for the Bereaved, “A Manual for Bereavement Support Programs,” Grand Junction, CO 1983. The Dougy Center, The National Center for Grieving Children and Families

Books

Parent/Grandparents

  • Children Die Too by Joy and Marvin Johnson

A booklet that talks about feelings, dealing with guilt, and facing sadness. There are sections for other children. Supportive reading in a few pages.

  • Grieving Grandparents by Sherokee Ilse and Lori Leininger
  • For Bereaved Grandparents by Margaret H. Gerner

Grieving Grandparents following miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS or infant death and For Bereaved Grandparents following a grandchild’s death are both booklets that help us understand better the pain of the loss of a grandchild and the pain of seeing your own child suffer.

  • When Hello Means Goodbye by Pat Schwiebert, RN, and Paul Kirk, MD

A guide for parents whose child dies before birth, at birth, or shortly after birth. This sensitive booklet is a help to families during the early days of their grief.

  • Healing a Parent's Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas After Your Child Dies by Alan Wolfelt, Phd, C.T.

Presenting simple yet highly effective methods for coping and healing, this book provides answers and relief to parents trying to deal with the loss of a child.

Children

  • Sad Isn't Bad, When Someone You Love Dies by Michaelene Mundy
  • Tear Soup: A Recipe for Healing after Loss by Chuck DeKlyen and Pat Schwieber

Beautifully illustrated with a complex set of emotions and individual needs explored as the story is told. It also has a list of helpful suggestions and community resources for coping with grief at the end of the book.

  • Loss: How Children and Teenagers Can Cope with Death and other kinds of Loss by Medic Publishing Company

It is a small helpful booklet that provides a good overview of how a child views death at various age levels - infant, preschool, school age, and adolescents- along with possible related behaviors, and what you can say or do.

  • Help for the Hard Times Getting Through Loss by Earl Hipp

A paperback whose focus audience is teens. It is easy to read and could be a part of a teen bereavement group.

  • The Empty Room by Elizabeth De Vita-Raeburn

Reviewed in the June 2008 Compassionate Friends Newsletter. This book review states that it was helpful for the reader to accept the loss of her sister as her own and to identify with repressing some of her own grief in order to support other family members as well as identifying with trying to be a more perfect child to make up for the loss that was felt within the family.

  • Helping Grieving Children at School by Alan D. Wolfelt

Helping the Grieving Student is a book and Helping Grieving Children is an article but both are very helpful to assist school staff in understanding and reaching out to the student and that student’s fellow classmates and teachers after a death.

  • Suicide of a Child: For parents whose child has completed suicide by Adina Wrobleski

Both Healing your Traumatized Heart (sudden violent death caused by accidents, homicide, and suicide) and Suicide of a Child, speaks to the special aspects of grief to know that you are a good person who has experienced a tragedy, you have rebuilding to do, and you have other people who need you and you need them.

Music

The following three selections speak of several of the emotions of grieving:

Bullens, Cindy; Artemis Records
Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth

Taylor-Good, Karen; Navarre Corporation
On Angel’s Wings

Journaling 

Online Journaling Tool 

Printable Resource: Journaling and Grief

Special Days of Remembrance