February 2020 Update

Jeff’s Place Program Update

So far, 2021 has already been a year full of movement for us at Jeff’s Place. We are thrilled to kick off our Grief MOVES Initiative! We recognize that kids/teens are physical in their grief!  Their bodies are meant to move. When their level of activity decreases, (i.e. pandemic!), those big emotions that come from losing someone close have no place to go. And as you know, that can play a factor in children’s physical and emotional well-being.  

In our Grief MOVES Initiative, everyone from our facilitators to our families are getting in on the action.  In January, our Jeff’s Place staff and facilitators underwent a training with movement and embodiment expert, Aaron Cantor, to help increase our ways to connect with movement and play particularly in this virtual format. 

Additionally, thanks to a grant from Middlesex Savings Bank, we hired a Dance Movement consultant, Madison Janke, to work with us and bring more tools/ movement to the kids/ teens we work with. Full disclosure, Madison is no stranger to JP, as she interned with us several years ago. She is back to help us lead this movement!

Lastly, with deep appreciation to the Haley Cremer Foundation, we were able to hand out Fitbits to all our grieving kids and teens! 

Families are already raving about Grief MOVES: 

“This is an incredible opportunity.”

“This is amazing! I love my Fitbit and [my son] loves

asking me how many steps I have…”

“[My daughter] is so excited about this!”

We don’t want kids ‘stuck’ in their grief… we want motion…

we want movement… we want healing. 

#GriefMOVES

Staff Spotlight!

Many of you know our Program Director, Aliya, who has been with Jeff’s Place the last 5 years. For those that do not know her, we wanted to offer a little glimpse into the work she and our entire team does day in and day out.

A Note From Aliya:

“My work has always been about people and heart.  In my professional life I have never encountered such amazing people who work with their whole hearts as the staff and board at Jeff’s Place.  As soon as I started working with the families I was blown away.  People come to us at their most vulnerable time and we get the privilege of accompanying them and witnessing them in their healing journey. The stories and connections that are at the heart of the work done at Jeff’s Place, moves me and inspires me every day.”

Aliya enjoys the challenges and intimacy of working with grieving families.  One such challenge was presented recently by the parent of one of our 13-year-old participants. This parent wrote to us to let us know that his kiddo was feeling disconnected in group and was thinking of ending their attendance. The main reason this teen was not feeling comfortable in group was that they felt that their loss (their parent died by overdose) was unique and that everyone else in group had “parents that died of cancer.”  Our team knew that there were a variety of causes of death in that group, including another death by overdose. 

When preparing for group that night, Aliya decided to try to help in two ways. The first, was to ask this participant to spend a few minutes at the beginning of group to meet one-on-one to problem-solve together. This way Aliya felt she was aligning with them to create a deeper sense of honesty and safety. The second intervention was to split the group into 2 breakout rooms: unexpected and expected death loss. 

The hope was to create points of connection between kids with similar stories. Sure enough, participants started to slowly open up more and more and before long, they were talking animatedly and relating to one another on a very deep level. And this, ultimately, is why we do this work, so that kids can connect with other kids who see them, who get it, who validate their feelings, and who and let each other know they are not alone.

 We received the following email from that same parent the next day:

 “Whatever you all did worked marvelously, and my child’s enthusiasm was THROUGH THE ROOF.  I have noticed a remarkable change.  [My child’s] comment to me when they got out of the meeting was “Don’t get used to hearing this… but you were right”.  There had a lot of anger and pent-up frustration and when they got the opportunity to let it all out… apparently it came out in a flood. I cannot thank you all enough for what you do.  It was a stroke of Genius to have the “Expected Deaths” and “Unexpected Deaths” in their own groups.  I am so happy.  Thank you all for what you do for our kids.  It’s truly a gift.”   

We are grateful to have good open lines of communication with the families we serve so that we can offer the best support to them. We are also grateful to have a team of talented clinicians who adapt to the needs of these families with love, compassion, and creativity.