Tools and resources for families
As the Puget Sound’s most comprehensive resource for children’s grief services, Safe Crossings Foundation (SCF) is dedicated to helping grieving children after the death of a loved one.
Through a rigorous research and evaluation process, we identify proven programs around the region that each have a profound impact on the healing process of bereaved kids in our community.
While continuing to invest in our tried-and-true partner organizations, we also strive to identify gaps in services in order to provide funding to fill those gaps, reaching even more children who wouldn’t otherwise be able to find support.
Thanks to our generous donors, SCF is able to ease the fundraising burden on these programs with the vision that all families and children will be able to access the support they need at little to no cost.
Safe Crossings Foundation funds the following programs:
Please click the links for more information on each.
Safe Crossings Program - Providence Hospice of Seattle
Safe Crossings Program focuses that care on the children and families affected by the death through individual, peer, and school counseling programs. They have programs dedicated to anticipatory grief, traumatic loss, and so much more.
Camp Erin
Camp Erin-King County is a weekend, overnight camp for kids and teens between the ages of 5 and 17 who are grieving the death of a loved one. Camp Erin-King County is free of charge to all participants.
Art with heart
Art with Heart is dedicated to helping children and teens overcome trauma through creative expression. They are the creative minds behind Draw It Out as well as other evidence-based, therapeutic books and programs that help children that are struggling through illness, divorce, violence, or the loss of someone important to them.
bridges center for grieving children
Bridges provides a safe place for you and your child to grieve. We support families with children between the ages of 4 and 18 who are coping with a loved one’s serious diagnosis or who have experienced the death of someone they care about.
Crisis Connections
Crisis Connections, formerly known as Crisis Clinic, was founded in 1964. They are one of the oldest crisis lines in the nation, and home to five programs focused on serving the emotional and physical needs of individuals across Washington State.
diaspora family healing network
The Diaspora Family Healing Network (DFHN) is a Greater Seattle based non-profit agency dedicated to assisting historically excluded migrant BIPOC families in Washington State who are disproportionately impacted by racism and mental health disorders.
The term “diaspora” refers to migrant communities who have resettled in the U.S. and have had their identities and sense of belonging profoundly shaped by their migration experience and distinctive cultural background.
Eluna - Camp Erin Online
Eluna’s programs and services focus on positive reinforcement, protective factors and useful tools that bring comfort, hope and healing to support children and families as they navigate their way though the darkness.
Grievers Library
Grievers Library provides free biblio-therapy for grievers through:
Book Boxes stocked with 50+ books in 5 distinct Seattle neighborhoods
Global Grievers Library hyperlinked to a database of 10,000 public libraries world-wide
“EZ Reads” excerpted from books, blogs and research articles
The Healing Center
The Healing Center is a grief-support community for children, teens, and families. Their community offers a unique, long-term, multifaceted approach to grief support, combining individual and group support with informal events and social networks.
Seattle Children's
Seattle Children’s Journey program helps families navigate the death of a child. They focus on family support and offer specific programs for African American and Spanish speaking families.
Wild Grief
Wild Grief believes in the healing power of both nature and peer support. At Wild Grief, they combine the two, providing guided hikes at all levels, hour-long, day-long, and multi-day experiences all focused on supporting each other while through grief. Their motto is “Go Outside, Go Together, Go Through It.”
Youth Eastside services
Youth Eastside Services (YES) is the leading behavioral health services provider in East King County for children and youth, ages birth to 22, and their families. We provide evidence-based mental health counseling, substance use with co-occurring disorder counseling and treatment, early childhood behavioral health services, psychiatric services, school-based services, and education and prevention programs.
For Children
Did someone close to you die? You are not the only one! Lots of other kids have experienced the death of someone they love. You might have a lot of scary feelings, but there are things you can do that will help. Here are a few things you can try:
Links
For Teens
As a teen experiencing the death of a loved one, your unsettled life may be further complicated by intense emotions, fluctuating hormones, and changing relationships with friends and family. If you are a teen and are trying to process the loss of a loved one, these resources and links to other organizations below are for you.
Links
After a Death Resource Catalog
The Grieving Process: Coping with Death
Helping Yourself Through Grief
Books
Healing Your Grieving Heart for Teens by Alan Wolfelt
For Parents
As a parent or guardian of a child who is dealing with the death of a loved one, you may feel ill equipped on what to say or how to provide support. The links listed below are resources to help you as you walk the path to healing beside a grieving child.
Links
When Families Grieve – Sesame Street Video
Telling a Child Someone has Died
10 Things to Remember When Talking to Children and Teens about Death and Dying
Children’s Understanding of Death at Different Ages
Books
List of Books to Read provided by Safe Crossings Program
Buy Books related to Grief – Centering Corporation
Letting Children Share in Grief (Attending a Funeral) by Alan Wolfelt
Regional Services
Name | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
(425) 827-4937 | Bellevue | Youth Eastside Services provides counseling, substance abuse treatment, education and prevention, and psychiatric services in East King County. We work with youth ages birth to 22 and their families. |
Swedish/Edmonds Bereavement Program (425) 640-4404 | Edmonds | For people who are looking for a safe, confidential place to discuss the death of a loved one, and how they are coping. |
Evergreen Hospital and Medical Center (425) 899-1077 | Kirkland | Provides peer support groups for children and teens. Parents meet separately in their own group. Art, music, storytelling, and ritual are part of the healing process. |
(360) 493-5928 or (877) 620-3286 | Olympia | Offers a support program for children, adolescents and their families who are coping with a family member’s serious illness or grieving a loved one’s death. |
(360)358-3213 | Olympia | Leads safe, supportive wilderness trips for youth who are grieving a death, providing a unique experience of connection, support and challenge to help them heal. |
(206) 362-4047 | Seattle | Creates and distributes therapeutic books, supportive trainings and programs to help children dealing with the stress and strain of hardship and trauma. |
(206) 297-2100 | Seattle | Offers free classes, consultations, 24-hour support line, and community center for individuals and families who are living with cancer. |
Seattle Children's Hospital - Journey Program (206) 987-2062 | Seattle | Provides individual, couple and family support following the death of a child whether or not the child was cared for by Seattle Children’s Hospital. |
Cancer Pathways (Formerly known as Gilda's Club) (206) 709-1400 | Seattle | Provides education and emotional support resources for anyone touched by cancer. Free of charge support groups, classes, lectures, workshops, seminars, and social events. |
Harborview Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress (206) 744-1600 | Seattle | Provides services to help persons impacted by sexual assault and other traumatic events. |
(206) 523-1206 | Seattle | Provides a safe environment for people to move through their grief. Support groups for widowed men and women, teens and children; individual counseling services and family support. |
Inspire Youth Project (formerly Rise n’ Shine) (206) 628-8949 | Seattle | Provides emotional support and advocacy to children and teens at risk through support groups, mentor program, summer camp and teen program. Special programs for children affected by HIV/AIDS. |
Safe Crossings Program & Camp Erin-King County Safe Crossings Program (206) 225-5816 Camp Erin-King County (206) 749-7723 | Seattle | Provides services to children and families dealing with the terminal illness and/or death of a loved one from anticipatory stages of grief and throughout the bereavement process in the form of individual and group support sessions. |
(206) 223-6398 | Seattle | Provides counseling, psychiatric assessment and medication management to those who have lost loved ones due to sudden, violent death; primarily homicide survivors. |
(206) 461-8368 | Seattle | Formally Forefront Cares, Crisis Connections, formerly known as Crisis Clinic, was founded is one of the oldest Crisis Lines in the nation, and home to five programs focused on serving the emotional and physical needs of individuals across Washington State. |
Providence Hospice & Home Care of Snohomish (425) 261-4800. | Snohomish | Provides grief support and education for adults and children. |
(253) 403-1966 | Tacoma | Offers support groups for children ages 4–18 who have experienced the death of a parent or sibling or who are living with someone who is seriously ill. |
National Services
Name | Description |
|---|---|
Eluna launched the first Camp Erin in 2002 in Snohomish, WA. Camp Erin has since grown into the largest national bereavement program for youth grieving the death of a significant person in their lives. In 2015, Camp Erin served 3,000 kids during 51 sessions at 46 camp locations. Recognizing that the grief journey for these families does not end after the last s’more, Eluna recently launched a robust online library inviting visitors to receive a personalized set of resources, as well as a warm hand-off to hundreds of well-vetted, local and national support organizations. Visit the Eluna Resource Center by clicking here. | |
The National Alliance for Grieving Children (NAGC) promotes awareness of the needs of children and teens grieving a death and provides education and resources for anyone who wants to support them. The NAGC provides a network for nationwide communication between hundreds of professionals and volunteers who want to share ideas, information and resources with each other to better support the grieving children and families they serve in their own communities. Through this network, the NAGC offers online education, hosts an annual symposium on children’s grief, maintains a national data base of children’s bereavement support programs and promotes national awareness to enhance public sensitivity to the issues impacting grieving children and teens. | |
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline | 1.800.SUICIDE or 1.800.273.TALK |
1.800.442.HOPE | |