How the Caring Place Works

The Caring Place is a family program that focuses on the needs of teens and children. There is no cost for any services. Caring Place services are offered to all members of the community.

Teens and younger children can attend the Caring Place with their families. Even though the program is centered on children and teens, it’s for both children AND adults in a family. A whole family is affected by a death.

"The Caring Place made me feel like now at least I know people who are actually going through what I’m feeling. Not like at school where all my friends say things like, 'You'll get over it.' I’m just glad I have friends at the Caring Place who understand what I’m going through. It makes me happy." — William, 14

When a family comes to a peer support group at the Caring Place, they come together with approximately 15–20 other families who have also had someone they love die.

The meetings last about two hours each, and begin with eating pizza or hoagies together. The Family Activities Room, with the air hockey and dome hockey games, is open through this hour.

The Highmark Caring Place is a community resource, open to any grieving child throughout the community, free of charge.

After the first hour, teens and younger children meet with others their age, while adults meet with other adults. Trained adult volunteers help in all the groups. In the groups, teens get to know each other, and see that they’re not alone in the thoughts and feelings and experiences they’ve had since the death.

Although teens might feel completely set apart (or even weird) at school, at the Caring Place, teens are the same as everyone else. Many teens (and adults) have expressed their relief at just being able to feel like someone understands.

The volunteers are there not to teach anyone how to grieve, but to provide structure and support, safety and security to the groups. Within this structure, the teens themselves discover what they need.

"The Caring Place is not just a place to come to talk of death and dying, but a place to celebrate life and love." — Jennifer, 17

The volunteers create a place where teens can talk about things that are hard, things they can’t talk about at school, or with friends, or even within the family. They provide a place where kids can feel whatever feelings they have — angry, or sad, or happy. Along with their peers within the groups, the volunteers are companions to the teens in their grief, simply walking beside them, allowing them to do their necessary grief work, without having to do it alone.