About Hope’s Road
Founded in 2020, Good Samaritan Hospice‘s Hope’s Road, formerly Youth Bereavement Care, grew by addressing the need to find innovative ways to reach grieving children.
The service offers FREE support and programs to any children and young adults impacted by the death of a significant person in their lives.
In addition to serving families from our hospice and extended Concordia network, Youth Bereavement Care opens its doors to the greater community as well. The Hope’s Road program is rooted in the Christian faith while also offering a supportive environment that welcomes individuals of all faiths and backgrounds. In a world where everyone is apart, our goal is for bereaved youth to know they are not alone.
To learn more about our youth bereavement care, call toll free at 1-800-720-2557.
Hope’s Road Services
Hope’s Road provides grieving children, teens and young adults with resources, individualized support and year-round connection with other families who are grieving. The programs support these young humans as they navigate their own unique grief journey. In addition to being FREE, the programs include a variety of virtual and in-person programming:
- Individualized anticipatory grief support for children, teens, young adults, and their families when a significant person in their life is experiencing a health decline
- Quarterly youth bereavement events
- Group story reading with grief-oriented discussion
- Arts and crafts for emotional expression
- Youth story, poem and journal writing to share their grief journey
- Remembrance of the deceased
- Tips and tutorials on learning coping skills and relaxation methods to manage emotional stress
- Spiritual Care Support: Prayer, activities, and discussions regarding God’s love and support for those who are grieving
- Bereavement support for caregivers and family members
- Grief education, books, and activities related to emotional expression
- Virtual grief webinars and prayer programs
- Community resource referrals
- Grief support check-in calls with the caregivers of bereaved children and young individuals
- FREE grief comfort packages with books or journals, emotional expression activities, and additional comfort items
- Toll free hotline (1-800-720-2557) to reach bereavement or spiritual coordinators Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Calls can typically be scheduled outside of these hours upon request.
- Please text or call 988 for suicidal ideation or mental health crisis situations
Hope’s Road Staff
The Hope’s Road team are grief and bereavement professionals trained in grief care, emotional support, and child mental and behavioral health, to provide connective resources within the grief community.
Enrollment
Rolling referrals accepted year-round. For more information, please call 1-800-720-2557 to speak with a youth bereavement staff member and remember, you are not alone.
Get more information about Hope’s Road by filling out the form below:
In the Community
Hope’s Road would be honored to connect with the community to provide free onsite support and resources to community organizations.
Hope’s Road support options for schools, churches, libraries and community organization:
• Anticipatory grief or bereavement trainings for supporting children or adults
• Grief and/or emotional coping programs/events for staff or families when there is a grief need at a school or community organization
• FREE books, resources, activity packets, and grief comfort packages
• Recommendations on grief support for bereaved children, families, or adults
• Remembrance or Prayer Services
• Bereavement or Spiritual Support
• Social-emotional story times or activities available to libraries, schools, or similar organizations
Fill out the form below, if you’re interested in a community partnership:
Connect with Us
Click the Facebook button to visit our page. Follow us for great content and updates on our events.
Upcoming Youth Bereavement Events
All of the following programs are free and open to the public, though some may require registration. While our bereavement programs are rooted in the Christian faith, they offer a supportive environment that welcomes individuals of all faiths or backgrounds. When available, please click the links associated with the events to learn more information and to complete the registration process.
This schedule is tentative and may change. Dates, locations, and times will be updated as the year progresses!
- Saturday, Oct. 27 — Minecrafting Hope: Building New Connections, (10 a.m. – 12 p.m.) is a virtual event. Children, teenagers, young adults and their families will share how faith helps us heal while enjoying creative Minecraft adventures. Together, attendees will also pray, connect with others who are grieving, learn coping strategies and remember their special person who passed away. Registration is required by Oct. 4.
- Sunday, Aug. 9 — Good Samaritan Hospice Butterfly Release (2 – 3:30 p.m.) at Succop Nature Park. An event for bereaved individuals with prayer, remembrance, and releasing a butterfly in memory of a special person who passed away. This event is not exclusive to Hope’s Road and adults in the community without children in their life are encouraged to attend. Click here for more details.
- November — Holiday Event (TBD) at a location TBD. A grief event to remember our special person during the holiday, talk about coping during the holidays while grieving, and create a memorable holiday keepsake. More details coming soon.
Before attending your first event with Hope’s Road, you will need to fill out some paperwork. This can be completed at the event, but if you would like to get a head start, you can fill out the following forms virtually and email them to
hopesroad@good-samaritanhospice.org; or you can print them, fill them out and bring them to the event.
Click the buttons below to access the forms.
If you have any questions about the forms, please send us an email or give us a call at (1-800-720-2557).
Additional Resources
Click on the documents below to for our carefully curated guides on grief-related topics.
