Our History
Our Founding Director, Jenny Kaplan, grew up in MetroWest with her parents and two brothers. The eldest, Jeff, drowned just shy of his 18th birthday. Her family’s story of loss, healing, integration, and growth propelled Jenny into the field of Social Work and Bereavement Services.
After many years at FRIENDS WAY, a respected, comprehensive children’s bereavement center in Rhode Island that she also founded, Jenny was thrilled for the opportunity to offer similar support for grieving children, teens, and families in the MetroWest community.
Jeff’s Place started as a year-round extension of Manitou Experience (now Experience Camps), a week-long overnight camp for grieving boys.
Jeff’s Place began in 2010 with 6 families and 9 children, but clearly met a need for the numerous grieving children and families in the MetroWest community as the number of families contacting us for services steadily increased. This prompted Jeff’s Place to become an independent 501(c)(3) organization in 2011 and move to Framingham, MA in 2013. Jeff’s Place has continued to grow and increase its offerings of free support groups, individual counseling, educational training, and crisis intervention. We welcome families from a wide diversity of backgrounds; grief and loss do not discriminate.
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