The BHTF’s focus is to find and support programs with leading edge expertise in children’s bereavement.  Our belief is that children need a wide variety of resources after they experience the death of a parental figure or sibling -- both emotional and financial.

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How often do we hear that children are resilient?  While this is certainly true, there is great risk in minimizing their need to learn how to understand and process such traumatizing and complicated emotions.  Further, resilience only speaks to the idea that a child is doing better than expected given the tragic situation, but it does not address what would be required to empower a child to thrive.

 

The programs that the BHTF supports take a diverse approach to meeting the needs of grieving children as well as building their social emotional skills.  They focus on the power of peer support programs through which children and adolescents who have faced similar death experiences are brought together and can learn that they are not alone in their feelings of instability and loneliness.   

 

In 2022 and 2023, BHTF supported the following organizations:

• Boston Children’s Hospital - The number one pediatric hospital in the nation for the ninth year in a row according to U.S. News & World Report.

• McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA - America’s #1 hospital for psychiatric care, according to the U.S. News & World Report. 

• Massachusetts General Center’s PACT (Parenting at a Challenging Time) – An innovative program that addresses the concerns that parents with cancer have about helping their children cope during the parent’s treatment, with an understanding that some parents would not survive to see their children become adults.

• The Children’s Room – A leading organization that offers children, teens, and their families an opportunity to find connection and community after the death of an immediate family member.

• Camp Erin – The largest national bereavement program for youth grieving the death of a significant person in their lives.  With 38 locations, Camp Erin allows children and teens to attend, free of charge, a transformational weekend camp that combines fun camp activities with grief education and emotional support.

• Camp Kesem– Camp Kesem is a national organization that supports children who have a parent or caregiver affected by cancer. There are individual chapters at colleges and universities all across the country, including at Princeton! Each summer, Camp Kesem provides a free one-week camp for campers ages 6-18. During the school year, they focus on fundraising in order to ensure there is no financial burden on campers’ families. Camp Kesem also prioritizes diversity, equity, and inclusion in order to create a safe and supportive space where all feel welcomed.