Little Company hosts this program for grieving children each spring and fall. We realize mourning the loss of a family member or cherished person is hard but essential work for all families if their future is to be happy and secure. Children are no exception. They need a safe, accepting and nurturing environment where each can grieve in his or her own way.

Our Heart Connection staff is committed to supporting families, schools and the community in caring for grieving children. Little Company offers this unique program that encourages children to honor and express their feelings of loss. Through creative activities and the companionship of other children in similar circumstances, they find the necessary guidance and support necessary for their healing.

The Heart Connection meets weekly for nine sessions from 6:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. The first session is a family orientation to the program. After that, the children gather weekly in age-specific support groups:

• 5-6 years
• 7-9 years
• 10-12 years
• 13-17 years

Trained professional co-facilitators guide each group through creative activities suitable to their developmental ages, enabling their expression of grief and enhancing their coping skills.

Simultaneous to the children's group, professional grief specialists present weekly topics to parents and family members to guide and support them in helping their children, as well as caring for themselves, through this painful experience of grief.

Registration and a completed application are required for acceptance into the program, whose enrollment is limited to 32 children. We ask that children attend all nine sessions. There is no fee since it is part of our mission to provide services like this to the communities we serve.

Ordinarily, in the child's best interest, we advise waiting to enter the program until her or she is at least three months' bereaved.