Updated February 6, 2008. URL is http://www.parlorcity.com/secop/erin.html

"Bereave: to deprive of a person or thing taken away.
Not used in reference to immaterial objects."

Why this page is here: I read an article about Erin's House in the newspaper. I've told many families about it, and have put this information on my site because I can't find anything on the web about Erin's House or a similar program.
Update: Eventually Erin's House did make its own website. Their URL is Erin's House.

bar

ERIN'S HOUSE FOR GRIEVING CHILDREN

Erin's House
227 East Washington Boulevard
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46802
telephone (260)423-2466

Erin's House provides peer support for children, ages 3 through 18, who grieve the death of a family member or other loved one.
The bi-monthly meetings are led by volunteers who have had 30 hours of training. You need not have worked with children to train, but you do need to be able to commit to a year's worth of volunteering. Erin's House was first conceived in 1992. On its first night of programming, in 1993, it served four families. Today it serves more than 288 grieving children from 164 families through 54 bi-weekly peer support groups.

Erin's House Hosts Conference

There will be a conference in Fort Wayne on Friday and Saturday, June 5 and 6, 1998, entitled

"Starting a Children's Grieving Center"


"Healing happens in a community." Perhaps you could help your community start this kind of children's service. Various topics to be covered include

  • Why start a grieving center?
  • How to conduct a feasibility study
  • Fund-raising and marketing
  • Setting up a 501(c)3 non-profit organization
  • Recruiting and retaining volunteers
  • Erin's House history

The registration fee is $195.00, but if you register before April 15, 1998, it is $175.00. Cancellation fee is $35.00. If you are unable to attend the conference, the materials can be made available for you, for $75.00. The fee includes program and administration manuals.

The hours are Friday, June 5 from 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., and Saturday, June 6, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Blocks of rooms are reserved in two hotels within walking distance of the conference:
The Holiday Inn Downtown, 300 East Washington Blvd., Fort Wayne, IN 46802, telephone is 260-422-5511; ask for the Erin's House room rate.

The Hilton, 1020 South Calhoun, Fort Wayne, IN 46802, telephone 219-420-1100. Ask for Erin's House room rate.

Contact Erin's House via phone, mail or at their web site for the latest details. This conference will give you the tools to develop and operate a vital community-based support program that allows children to share the death of a loved one with other grieving children.

Conference Benefits

  • Learn the skills required to develop a grieving children's center in your community.
  • Work directly with the staff of Erin's House.
  • Become part of Erin's House network.
  • Utilize the resources of Erin's House.
  • Use Erin's House as a consultant.

Erin's House can be reached at (260) 423-2466. The mailing address is 227 East Washington Blvd, Suite 202, Fort Wayne IN, 46802. I'd expect it would be a courtesy to enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope if you request information. All these types of groups are under-funded. Their web site is www.erinshouse.com

Lane Utterback, with whom I talked there, believes there are 52 similar facilities around the country. If anyone has an on-line link for a facility like Erin's House, please send it to me. Or even if it is just a name and phone number, send that. I will list it all.

Ms. Utterback said the original childrens' grief center is

The Dougy Center
3909 SE 52nd Street
Portland OR 97206
telephone (503)775-5683

Shawn Henderson is planning to hike the entire Appalachian Trail to raise money for the center where he is a volunteer. It has no web site yet. It is

The Center for Grieving Children
PO Box 1438
Portland, ME 04104
Telephone: (207) 799-1112
Center location:
879 Sawyer St
So. Portland, ME

Another children's house that has contacted me is Michael's House, A Center for Grieving Children in Cleveland, Ohio. Contact Madeline A. Sivak, RN, Executive Director, email Michlhouse@aol.com
Michael's House works closely with Erin's House on projects.

Liz Toporas of Erin's House located a children's bereavement center in Fort Worth Texas called The WARM Place. The phone number is (817) 870 2272. This was in response to a request sent in by one of my readers.

I also write abour a multi-generational tragedy here in Indiana, at Jeff was only .11 (verify this URL Sandra)

bar

These are just my musings

I've always wanted to write to Dear Abby about a death a few years ago in Indiana. A child had been abducted and murdered while her slightly older sister had been "minding her" outdoors. The older sister went on to suicide a few years later, having always blamed herself for "letting it happen." This has upset me so much.

Kids, even when charged with the responsibility, are not parents. They don't deserve to be blamed, but there hasn't been any help available to them when they are. This is a problem that is just not recognized in our society. It is the sort of thing, but of course a rare exception, that Erin's House has grief counselors for.

Please note that I am in no way saying the parents were responsible in the above murder. The murderer was responsible. Children can't be kept in locked rooms "for their own safety." There are risks in life, but the surviving children should be helped to cope.

In my own experience I have known families where the mother has died and the father has forbidden the children to express any emotion at all. I've seen the results of that, too. (And received email about it since this page went on-line.) I hope all children everywhere will be able to access a service such as Erin's House.

bar

angel ring   Empty Arms is a site for parents who have lost a child. Lisa Barney lets me be an honorary member, to bring this ring information to your attention. The lettering on this graphic reads "The Empty Arms Ring, Honorary Member."

Here's another reason why I am interested in Erin's House and similar subjects. (2-5-08 lost this file but I will find it again.)

I've lost my review  of the outstanding children's book by Australian artist Graeme Base, My Grandma Lived In Gooligulch. It shares how a child remembers a grandma who loved animals. Just Google it, and you will be amazed at how this children's book has taken on a life of its own.  It is a play now, constantly performed in Australia.  It needs to be just as popular everywhere else. 

roses

Image by Sissi

Here's a fine page made by Emily Mellgren, a grad student interested in the issues of grieving children. Read Emily's page of links. I am gratified that this issue is gaining prominence. The email I receive from adults who have suffered from the way death was handled when they were small is heartbreaking.

Index of my grief pages
Main Grief Page
 Erin's House you are here
Books and Bookstores
page is lost. Just use Google.
 A Memorial to Mark and Scott
My father and others
 My Grandma Lived
In Gooligulch
review and art is lost
Meditations
 Index of Entire Site

This page made in friendship by Sandra Weinhardt, email secop@parlorcity.com