The Garden: A Center for Grieving Children and Teens exists to provide support groups & grief education to grieving children, teens and their families whose lives have been disrupted by death; and to offer professional, community education and training in a grief support model.

The Garden is the bereavement program of the Hampshire Regional YMCA, in Northampton.

The Garden has been serving an average of 25 families per year in our year long groups at no charge for as long as they may need the support. We also provide consultation to school districts, counseling centers, prisons and other community agencies.

Philosophy The Garden aims to create a place for children and adults to grieve in a supportive and understanding environment. Society often fails to recognize or fulfill people’s needs during this difficult time.

We support these 4 basic principles of grief

1. Grieving is a natural response to change, loss and the death of a close family member or friend
2. Grief is individual and has its own time and duration
3. Within each individual, child or adult, is the natural ability to heal oneself
4. Caring and acceptance assist in the healing process

Scope Children respond differently to death than adults, but they grieve as much as any grown up and benefit from a caring, knowledgeable environment. At The Garden, our focus is the child - and our programs and discussion groups are geared toward helping young people identify and share their feelings and begin the healing process. Yet the program is for the whole family: while groups of children get together to share stories, feelings, and memories with each other, parents and guardians meet separately for a chance to discuss their own concerns facing them and their families. Groups are facilitated by carefully selected, screened and trained volunteers who encourage an exchange of feelings, ideas and offer support through discussions, arts and crafts and recreational activities.

One thing we know: children don't grieve in a "gloomy" way - which is sometimes why their grieving process is overlooked in the first place. At The Garden activities are designed to be fun, while also teaching kids effective and important coping skills.

Clientele The Garden welcomes families from all over Western Massachusetts who have experienced the death of a close family member—mom, dad, brother or sister. It is the loss of a primary person in the life of the child(ren) that we target. We serve families with children ages 5-18 years. Families with children in grades K-8th come to our program on Sunday afternoons; while high school aged teens participate in the mid-week teen group.

Support vs. Therapy The Garden is not a therapy group - it is a support program for children and their families. Garden volunteers are trained for the sole purpose of providing support, education, and facilitation to the group.

Personnel

Drawing from personal and professional experience Barbara Weiner Dubeck founded The Garden: A Center for Grieving Children and Teens in 1998. She retired in 2006.

Shelly Bathe Lenn came to The Garden as a volunteer facilitator in 2002 where she worked in the Young Teens, Teens, and Littles groups. She became the Program Coordinator in 2004 where she worked closely with Barbara in preparation for becoming Director upon Barbara’s retirement.

As Director she facilitates the caregiver support group, conducts all intakes with new participants, and oversees the recruitment, training and supervision of all volunteers and fund raising efforts. She is a member of the Western Massachusetts Bereavement Coordinators Group and the Massachusetts Children's Grief Support Network.

Shelly holds a Masters of Education and Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in School Counseling from University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a Bachelors Degree in Women’s Studies and Education from the University of California Santa Cruz. She lives in Easthampton with her husband, David and seven year old son, Evan.