TOLEDO, Ohio — Good Grief of Northwest Ohio will be receiving a $20,000 grant to be used toward its mission of no-cost grief support for children and teens.
The grant comes from the board of trustees of the Oswald Supporting Organization of the Greater Toledo Community Foundation to help fund peer support groups in Good Grief's program space on Reynolds Rd. in Toledo, as well as five local schools within Sylvania Public, Toledo Public and Washington Local Schools.
Participants live in Lucas, Wood and Fulton Counties in Ohio, and Monroe County in Michigan.
According to leaders at Good Grief, childhood bereavement is a prevalent and critical public health issue that can have a profound impact on an individual’s future wellbeing, but is can often be overlooked.
Foundation representatives also said that studies show one in 11 children in Ohio will experience the death of a parent or sibling before age 19. In Lucas County alone, that is over 10,000 children.
Good Grief’s volunteer-led peer support groups help kids identify healthy support mechanisms and positive coping skills to lessen the risk of turning to negative or harmful ways of coping with the pain of grief of losing a loved one.
By being with others their own age, with similar experiences, kids can find a supportive and safe environment to process their feelings of grief and loss.
For more information on what services Good Grief of Northwest Ohio has to offer, check out its website here. You can also follow them on Facebook by clicking here.