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| Summer Greetings! |
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We're very excited to tell you about our new tours, and to share with you our recent events and future activites. Welcome to our newsletter LIONHEART, named after the paint color for our house, lionheart yellow. We invite you to read the latest updates from The Children's Room, and we hope you enjoy Lionheart: where courage and community come together. |
| Tour and Tell |
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Will you bring your friends for a tour this summer?
We are now hosting tours of The Children's Room, as a unique way to bring our mission to a wider audience and broaden our circle of support. This engaging new introduction to The Children's Room is called a "Tour and Tell."
The tour takes no more than an hour. Guests hear a heartfelt welcome from a board or staff member, then take a guided walk through the house. The group is led by an experienced volunteer who tells stories about the support families experience when they come to The Children's Room.
People have told us after the tour that they were incredibly moved and say they can now picture what happens in our program. They enter expecting to find a sad atmosphere, and instead they leave feeling surprised by the colorful and comforting surroundings at the house, and the stories of hope and inspiration. We hope you will share your enthusiasm about The Children's Room, and come with your friends. Nothing we say can match the first-hand experience of touring the house. Daytime and evening times are available. Upcoming tours are currently planned for: 7/16, 7/29, 8/5, 8/12 and 9/10. (See times in Upcoming Events sidebar.) We will also arrange special tours if you have a group ready to visit at another time. Please RSVP with kkillion@childrensroom.org | |
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| Upcoming Events |
Tour and Tell Dates:
7/16 Wednesday 9 am
7/29 Tuesday 6 pm
8/5 Tuesday 11 am
8/12 Tuesday 6 pm
9/10 Wednesday 9 am
7/10: Story Sharing
8/22: Conneely Golf
9/13: Vol. In-Service
9/28: Memories Walk
Volunteer Training Dates:
9/6 9:00-5:00pm
9/7 1:00-7:00pm
9/13 9:00-5:00pm
9/16 6:30-8:30pm
9/18 6:30-8:30pm
*Volunteers attend all sessions
The Children's Room provides caring support for grieving children, teens, and families from over 75 communities in Massachusetts.
Our fiscal year ends June 30th. Donations made by then are appreciated! |
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| Teen Performance Troupe |
On the last Saturday afternoon in May, The Children's Room Teen Performance Troupe stepped onto the stage at Belmont Hill School for their final performance of the year. All six teens in the troupe have experienced the death of a parent or sibling.
With soul-baring openness, they express what it was like to face these devastating losses. The courage with which they open their hearts is emotional and powerful. They convey what it is like to cope with changes in their families and support systems, and struggle to negotiate relationships with friends and school, after their lives have changed abruptly and dramatically.
The teen actors share some of the resources and coping skills that helped them, but they also acknowledge that while they learn to accept and assimilate loss and embrace life, their grief will always be with them. So often, kids hold feelings of grief deep inside, and their grief is unrecognized and unacknowledged. These teens reach out to others with the message that breaking this silence is redemptive and healing.
This is a powerful message not just for kids, but for adults and professionals as well. Giving nearly a dozen shows this past year, the Troupe has performed for schools, social services and health services, including the national conference for the Independent School Health Association, the McKinley School in Boston, Germaine Lawrence, and Arlington High School. Shelly Steward, a TCR volunteer of four years, founded and directed the troupe for two years. In June, she graduated from Harvard with honors and many awards, and was accepted to work with Teach for America in South Dakota. Shelly will be missed, and we extend our heartfelt thanks and admiration to her for all that she has given to The Children's Room.
Livy Baldwin and Josh Bell, founding members of the Troupe, graduated from Arlington High School in May and plan to attend college in the fall. Victoria Krinsky graduated from Newton South High School and is also college bound. We hope they realize how much the generous gifts of their time and their personal stories are appreciated. We are grateful that Jaysin Gordon, August Radbill and Katie McCarthy plan to continue bringing their unique vision and gifts to the Troupe in the fall, along with the addition of new members. Janelle Dempsey, a student at Tufts, will help co-lead the group. We look forward to welcoming them back in September! We extend our gratitude to the Belmont Hill School for their generous donation of the Kraft Theater for the Troupe's last performance. Call Donna Sharff at 781-641-4741 for more information about the troupe. |
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 We will be ten years old in 2009! We are brainstorming about how to celebrate The Children's Room. Our Ten-Year Anniversary will give special meaning to all our community events this next year.
Along with the Conneely Golf Tournament on August 22, and our upcoming Annual Memories Walk on September 28 (see articles below on these events), we are planning community enriching gatherings for the year ahead and welcome your ideas.
Fall Fundraising Breakfast:
As you know, we did not have a spring auction this year. We are developing a more mission-focused approach to our events and fundraisers, and we have been getting professional coaching from Benevon, creators of sustainable fundraising for nonprofits. We will soon announce the date for a new fall breakfast, to be held at a Boston-area hotel in late October or mid-November. Do you want to help name this event? Would you like to get involved or join a planning commitee? Let us know. Email info@childrensroom.org Parent Council Party:Our Second Annual Parent Council Cocktail Party was held at The Children's Room on April 11th. Thank you to Mary Ellen Margosian and Debbie McAlarney for co-chairing this outstanding event. Everyone had a wonderful social evening, and we look forward to this party as a repeat event next year.
Volunteer Story Capturing:
On July 10, from 10-11:30 am, we are hosting a special morning at the house for our program volunteers. We want to collect memorable stories -- stories that stand out as something special that happened here at The Children's Room, to be shared with and appreciated by other volunteers. This will be a wonderful way to listen, laugh, and connect. We hope some of your stories will add inspiration and meaning to our "Tour and Tell" series. To RSVP, please contact: kkillion@childrensroom.org Please come join us for coffee, coffeecake, and conversation.
Grant from Smith Family Foundation:
We received a grant to repair the retaining wall that borders our property! As many of you know, over time the retaining wall has weakened and the rocks have become loose. It will be wonderful to have our welcoming, freshly painted house surrounded by a safe new wall and summer garden. We thank the Smith Family Foundation for supporting this restoration. We also thank David McCoy of geographia landscape design for his beautiful landscape plan, and Charlotte Milan for creating our lovely new front garden. |
| Moon Balloon Project |
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 We had a fun and creative healing workshop one April afternoon, led by author/illustrator Joan Drescher.
Kids at The Children's Room helped co-author a story on the spot. Joan used simple drawings to represent the personal experiences told to her by the kids in this interactive workshop. She drew big balloons -- shy balloons, sad balloons, happy balloons -- and created illustrations of the children themselves in the balloon baskets, flying through the sky on various healing adventures!
Joan has years of experience leading healing arts workshops for children, and she is currently the Artist in Residence at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children. We feel very lucky and enormously grateful that Joan shared her talents as an artist and communicator with children from our program.
As Joan Borysenko says, "The Moon Balloon is a wonderful way of allowing children to access and give words to emotions."
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| Conneely Golf Tournament |
 Calling all golfers (and non-golfers!) to join us for the Second Annual Conneely Contracting Charity Golf Tournament. No matter what your level of golf expertise, we welcome you to join the fun at the Wayland Country Club on Friday, August 22nd at 1:30 PM. The entrance fee is $125.00 and includes greens fee, cart, practice facility, lunch, and the Gift and Awards Banquet that evening.
Martin and Kerri Conneely are once again generously donating their time, talents, and enthusiasm to this wonderful event benefiting the families of The Children's Room.
Just like last year -- we expect a gorgeous day, a great turn-out, and a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon. Following the tournament, Martin and Kerri are hosting a dinner and auction at the Sons of Italy, 19 Prentiss Street in Arlington. All are welcome, so even if you are not planning to golf, we encourage families and friends to join us for the evening festivities. The great auction items are not to be missed!
Register online @childrensroom.org or mail checks to:
Conneely Contracting, Inc.
Charity Golf Tournament
33 Ryder Street
Arlington, MA 02476
Submit one, two, or three names to be combined into foursomes, or register as a foursome. Please register & submit payment by Friday, July 25, 2008.
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| 5th Annual Memories Walk and Fun Run |
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 The Children's Room 5th Annual Memories Walk and Fun Run will take place this year on Sunday, September 28th at the Medford Boat Club. We are grateful to our friend Teresa Mathai for taking part in the leadership of this event. Teresa, a member of the Medford Boat Club, requested and was granted use of the Boat Club as a home base for the Walk. The Boat Club is also providing their facilities for our community gathering and barbecue after the event. We extend many thanks to the Medford Boat Club for their generosity.
This promises to be our best Memories Walk ever! The three-mile route, winding through three towns, starts at the Boat Club in Medford, continues into Winchester, and then circles back to the other side of the Boat Club in Arlington.
Registration starts at 1:00, the opening ceremony will begin at 1:30, and the Walk/Run is scheduled to begin at 1:45. Walkers and runners will be welcomed back to the Boat Club for some fun activities and a community barbecue. We'll celebrate with cake and ice cream to commemorate the fifth anniversary of our Memories Walk.
We encourage everyone to register now! Just follow this link or go to the TCR website and click on the 5th Annual Memories Walk and Fun Run to go to the Firstgiving online registration site. Please set up a personalized page that you can send to family and friends. It is very easy to do -- and fun, because you can add your own pictures.
Are you planning to walk with your family and/or friends? Create a team! Teams are a great way to add a little competitive spirit and camaraderie. Name your team and personalize your page and you will be on your way to achieving your fundraising goal! Prizes will be awarded to the top three fundraisers (could be Red Sox tickets?!) and we will also have prizes and rewards for the fastest walkers and runners. Your support of The Children's Room will mean so much to our children and families. Thank you. |
| Video Workshop |
 Step right up, peek through the posterboard, and become a video cameraman for the day. That's what kids of all ages did at our vacation-week Video Workshop.
During the afternoon, they each focused on creating a short video about the person in their family who died. Working with professionals from Reflection Films and a former PBS producer, the kids shared stories during one-on-one interviews. All of this was made possible through a generous grant from the EnKa Society.
Stephon remembered swim classes with his little sister. Meghan described early morning walks along the beach while eating donuts with her dad. Carter talked about how his dad pushed him on the swings and called him monkey man.
While the interviews, photographs, and artwork gathered during the workshop now make up many hours of videotape, the creative process of editing is still going on as we make our "Captured Memories Video." The finished product will be a DVD of the unique tribute made by each of the kids. And they will forever have the memory of a fun afternoon with friends, learning about video production at The Children's Room and enjoying pizza, popcorn, and rootbeer floats.
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| Hospice Foundation Teleconference |
 In April, The Children's Room hosted the webcast of the Hospice Foundation of America's annual national teleconference. This year the conference was "Living With Grief: Children and Adolescents."
We welcomed almost 40 people to TCR to view the webcast. Our guests included professionals and volunteers from health care, social service, hospice, and religious organizations. We are glad so many came to view this informative conference that reflected much of the mission and work of The Children's Room.
Some of the issues addressed included secondary losses that families cope with as the result of the death of a family member. These might include loss of support systems and stability due to relocation, or due to changed family structure and circumstances.
The need for children and adolescents to memorialize and maintain a continuing bond with the family member who died was emphasized. Meaningful rituals and traditions can play a key part in the grief process. It is important for children to have information, options, and support so they can make their own decisions about what is helpful and comforting.
For more information about this conference, visit the HFA's website at
Hospicefoundation.org. Their website features many useful links and resources.
From the TCR website, you can link to HFA's interview with Dr. J. William Worden, who, along with Phyllis Silverman (one of TCR's founders) co-directed Harvard's Child Bereavement Study.
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We hope you enjoy staying connected with our community by reading our newsletter. Thank you for sharing your email with us, so we may reach out to you without paying to print and send a large mailing. We invite you to forward this newsletter if you'd like to share information about our community events.
As always, we enjoy hearing from you and welcome your ideas and questions. Please let us know what information and stories you think we should include. We like to offer a reminder that our newsletter name comes from the color of our house, Lionheart Yellow. The lion represents courage, and the heart represent what binds us. Look for more issues of Lionheart: The Latest from The Children's Room.
Best wishes, |
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