COPE AWARD

LongIsland.com

COPE Foundation (Connecting Our Paths Eternally) is proud to announce its recent award of a WE CARE Grant from the Nassau County Bar Association to fund COPE's outreach program to bereaved siblings living with the ...

Print Email

COPE AWARDED WE CARE GRANT TO FUND
SIBLING SUPPORT PROGRAMS ~ COPE Foundation (Connecting Our Paths Eternally) is proud to announce its recent award of a WE CARE Grant from the Nassau County Bar Association to fund COPE's outreach program to bereaved siblings living with the loss of a brother or sister and grieving children living with the loss of a parent. The $2,500 donation will help defray the organization's costs to provide age-specific bereavement support groups and an in-school grief and loss program to this underserved population.
The death of an immediate family member has a profound impact on a child. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry notes the following behavioral changes common to grieving children: depression so severe that a child shows little interest in daily activities; inability to sleep, eat normally, or be alone; regression in behavior to that of a less-mature child; imitation of the deceased person; repeatedly wishing to join the deceased; loss of interest in friends or play; and refusal to attend school or a persistent and marked drop in school achievement. Clearly, these bereaved children need immediate and long-term support to help them deal with their grief.
-more-
When the loss is that of a sibling, even fewer resources are available to the grieving child. In fact, these bereaved children are often called "lost souls" as their grief is so often cast aside for their parents' grief. Few organizations provide specific sibling support for children living with the loss of a brother or sister. COPE, one of the bereavement organizations focusing on this population, currently provides sibling support groups run by licensed social workers to siblings of all ages (5-10 years old, 11-17 years old, and young adult siblings) in several locations on Long Island and in New York City. COPE also offers a bereavement program for local Long Island school districts-an in-school grief workshop for children in the district dealing with grief (inclusive of all types of loss), school staff and parents, led by COPE social workers. The WE CARE grant will enable COPE to continue to provide our sibling support groups, expand our outreach to other areas of Long Island, and to reach out to more districts in the area with our grief program. With approximately 20% of all families in the United States living with the loss of a child and 2.5% of kids under 18 in the U.S. living with the loss of a parent (some 2.5 million children), bereavement programs such as COPE's are a necessity.
COPE, a not-for-profit foundation, 501(c)(3), (federal identification number 31-1670416), is dedicated to helping parents and families living with the loss of a child. Since 1999, COPE has
served the needs of approximately 300 families on Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk counties) by providing emotional, therapeutic and spiritual programs (at no cost to participants). These include parent and sibling support group meetings, individual one-on-one support, a spirituality group, art and movement therapy workshops, and a variety of special programs for clergy and mental health professionals. In addition to assisting local families, COPE's grief hotline (COPELine) and COPE
website have enabled us to also provide grieving individuals outside of Long Island with immediate support and resources and referrals. For more information on COPE, please contact Karen Flyer, Executive Director, at 516-484-4993 or karen@copefoundation.org.