 In 1989,
when Mary Emswiler died suddenly of heart failure at the age
of 39, her husband Jim began a long struggle to find help for
himself and his three young children. Finally, frustrated by
the lack of available services for grieving families, he
formed the New England Center for Loss and Transition with a
two-fold mission: to train human service professionals on
dying and grief and to provide support services to adult
grievers.
The Cove Center for
Grieving Children, a volunteer-driven program developed by the
New England Center for Loss and Transition, was started in
Guilford, Connecticut, in 1994 by Jim and his second wife,
Mary Ann, and therapist Renée McIntyre. After an exhaustive study of the
best national models available, this program was designed to
help children deal with grief. The Cove was separately
incorporated as a 501 (c)(3) organization in 1998.
Beginning with six
families in the first year, the program developed a solid
working model that has steadily grown and has been used as a
model in six other states. Today, there are six Cove sites
throughout the state serving thousands of grieving children
and family members through regular support sessions. The Cove
also offers an outreach program that touches an additional
1,100 individuals in the State of Connecticut each year
through community education, professional training,
consultation and referral.
For over ten years,
The Cove has provided programs that have helped children and
their families deal with the grieving process. These support
initiatives were designed to create a positive change with
real results. Our results include; helping children understand
the grieving process, how to communicate openly, how to ask
for help, how to avoid the negative effects of unresolved
childhood grief and, most importantly, to help them understand
they are in supported and served in a safe and healing
environment. We help children understand that within each of
them is the capacity to heal. We promote continuous safeguards
against depression, drug and sexual addictions, delinquency,
school drop out rates, nonproductive behavior, suicide and
other detrimental outcomes of unresolved grief. We help
children identify and eliminate obstacles that might hinder
them in their healing process. We also help parents and
caretakers in understanding grief and how to appropriately
support their children's grieving and healing processes.
We are the largest
children's grieving center in Connecticut with a coordinating
office in Meriden and six locations in West Hartford,
Southington/Bristol, Manchester, Guilford, New Haven and
Groton. Consequently, if we are to improve the well being of
children and adults who are grieving in our communities, it is
imperative that we identify and support those who have
experienced the loss of a family member. In addition, we are
compelled to offer them guidance, programs and resources while
assisting them in safely healing and living a full life.
Our plan is to
continue to support children and families in their grief
process and to help prevent thousands of children, teens and
adults from experiencing the resulting devastating side
effects of unresolved childhood grief. The primary goal of the
grief program at the Cove is to support children and families
in their grief and healing. Simultaneously, we are consciously
working to prevent depression, withdrawal, isolation,
inappropriate acting out behavior, lack of interest in school
work, promiscuous behavior and other related devastating
results of unaddressed and unsupported grief and loss.
The Cove Center for
Grieving Children provides or arranges for the provision of
the necessary resources, supports and community linkages in
order to relieve or lessen the burden of a grieving family.
The Cove plans to enhance the capacity of services offered to
children, teens, young adults and their families grieving the
loss of a family member. This expansion and growth will
strengthen our current programs and continue our statewide
initiative.
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