Patricia Murphy is requesting a $40,000 grant from the Althea Foundation for Josie's Place, a bereavement counseling program she directs. Josie's Place provides monthly support groups for grieving children, teens, and their caregivers. It also offers annual volunteer training and high school outreach on grief. Research shows unresolved childhood bereavement can lead to problems like isolation, substance abuse, and gang involvement. Josie's Place aims to help bereaved youth and families work through grief in a healthy way to prevent later issues. The grant would fund art supplies and staffing for the counseling groups.

1. Patricia Murphy
Josie’s Place
San Francisco Study Center
3288 21st Street. No 139
San Francisco CA 94110
The Althea Foundation
3701 Sacramento Street #436
San Francisco, CA, 94118
info@thealtheafoundation.org
RE: Request of a Grant for Josie’s Place
Dear Mrs. Julie Moore:
I am writing this letter to request seed money for Josie’s Place, an initiative under the
San Francisco Study Center. Josie’s Place was started a little over year ago to provide
counseling services for bereaved adolescents and younger children. Josie’ Place believes
all children have a right to grieve over the loss of a loved one in a safe, healthy
environment. The effects of unresolved grief on children and adolescents in particular
can lead to dysfunctional behavior and disruption of healthy development into
adulthood. Josie’s Place feels that healthy grieving for adolescents and younger children
will resolve many problems for our kids now and in the future. Because of your support
of mental health and bereavement issues with adolescents, Josie’s Place feels the Althea
Foundation is an ideal partner to help adolescents and younger children express and
find resolution to their grief.
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call or e-mail me. I look forward to
building a productive and positive relationship with you and your organization.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Patricia Murphy

2. A Grant Proposal

3. Josie’s Place
San Francisco Study Center
3288 21st Street
No 139
San Francisco CA 94110
info@josiesplace.org
(415) 513-6343
We gratefully accept donations payable to:
San Francisco Study Center/Josie's Place
3288 21st Street, #139
San Francisco CA 94110
USA

4. Table of Contents
Executive Summary 1
Introduction 2
Statement of Need 3
Goals, Objectives, and Outcomes 5
Programs and Services 6
Evaluation 7
Conclusion 8
Budget 9
Reference List 10
Appendix A Research Articles

5. Executive Summary
Childhood bereavement is a serious dilemma. Children are not often able to handle the
grief over the death of a loved one. The issue is even more problematic in adolescents.
The effects of bereavement in adolescents can lead to isolation, drug-abuse, alcoholism,
gang involvement, and more. Josie’s Place, an initiative under the San Francisco Study
Center a 501(c)(3) non- profit corporation, has developed programs to combat the issue
of children and adolescent bereavement. Teens, children, and their caregivers meet in
separate groups once a month. These “Talk Circles” allow adolescents, children, and
their caregiver an opportunity to explore and express their grief. In addition, caregivers
are given information about childhood bereavement and how to support their kids.
Josie’s Place also hosts a once-a-year training seminar for volunteer facilitators for the
“Talk Circles;” as well as, offering high school outreach discussions about bereavement
and its impact. Josie’s Place is a new organization seeking $40,000 in seed money for art
supplies and staff payroll.
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6. Introduction
Mission
Josie’s Place provides bereavement programs in a safe and caring environment that
supports children, teens, and their families in the San Francisco Bay Area who are
grieving the death of a family member or friend.
We support participants through education, compassion and understanding as they
integrate loss into their lives at their own pace.
Philosophy
Josie’s Place is founded on the belief that all children deserve the opportunity to grieve
in a supportive and understanding environment.
• We believe that grief is a natural reaction to the loss of a loved one.
• We believe that individual have the inner ability to heal himself/herself.
• We believe that the grieving process is unique for each individual, both in terms
of intensity and duration.
• There is no “right” way to grieve.
• We believe that understanding, compassion, caring and acceptance aid families
with their grief process.
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7. Organization
Josie’s Place offers bi-monthly, open-ended grief support groups in the evening for
teens, children, and their families free of charge. Patricia Murphy, who is on the board
of director’s along with Arlyne Charlip, founded Josie’s Place.
Josie’s Place is a program of the San Francisco Study Center, a 501(c)(3) non- profit
corporation. Since 1971, the Study Center has been a resource for organizers by
providing public records research, grant writing and a City Hall Newsletter. The Study
Center focuses on helping Non-Profits in organizational development and publishing.
Josie’s Place is based on the model created by the Dougy Center in Portland, OR. Since
1981, the Dougy Center has helped organizations by offering a wide variety of training
sessions and workshops on child grief-counseling programs. The Center currently
serves 350 children and their 200 family members. Through their national training
program, they have developed 165 programs modeled after the Dougy Center.
Statement of Need
Robert lost his mother to cancer at age 14. After her death, he was struck with an acute
loneliness. He explained this feeling by saying, “I felt that a piece of me was missing.”
Robert still felt alone though the grief had passed. He began writing poetry to help
capture “a very distant memory.” In an interview with researchers at New York’s
Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Robert recalls that “it took a couple of weeks” to pass
through the deepest pain but it helped to “get back into the normal groove of things.”
(Black, 2005)
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8. We all grieve when a family member passes on. It is in our nature to mourn the loss of a
loved one. Grieving allows us to acknowledge our loss and express our feelings for a
loved one. Many forget that children grieve also. They are called the “forgotten
mourners,” (Smith, 1999) those whose silent grieving is reflected in their future
behavior.
In many cases, children perceive the death as a traumatic event, which may lead to
post-traumatic symptoms and behavioral problems. Depending on their age, children
will react differently to the loss of a loved one. A child might begin to be more sullen,
shun the company of others, or act out at home and school. In adolescents, this post-
traumatic reaction to a death can be more severe. (National Child Traumatic Stress
Network,2004) A teenager, as a result, may become involved in drugs , alcoholism,
promiscuity, or gangs.
Gangs are a significant problem for bereavied adolescents, a problem that not only
affects them and their families but their community as well. A survey of 300 teenagers
incarcerated at the California Youth Authority Facility showed 96 percent
acknowledging they had someone significant in their lives die. (Cunningham, 1996)
Another survey done by the YWCA showed 141 out of 150 female offenders at the
Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility had experienced at least one painful loss
before incarceration. (YWCA Indianapolis,1993). Additionally, 35 percent admitted to
engaging in self-mutilation and 61 percent admitting to alcohol and/or drug abuse as a
way to deal with their sorrow. (Indianapolis Grief & Loss Consulting & Educational
Services, 2003).
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9. These are the future leaders of our world. These are the people who will live and work
in, and build our communities in the future. Without proper outlets for their emotions,
they will express themselves through destructive behavior both to themselves and the
neighborhood around them. In adulthood, they may become dysfunctional and unable
to cope with their community, even becoming a problem to their neighborhood—such
as those who’ve fallen into the ranks of local gangs.
It is important that children learn how to express their feelings of loss before
dysfunctional behavior begins. In a study on bereaved children, 21 percent of parentally
bereaved children demonstrated dysfunctional behavior within two years after the
death of a loved one (Worden & Silverman, 1996), while 37 percent showed signs of a
major depressive disorder within a year after the death of a loved one (R. A. Weller et
al., 1991).
Our teenagers are the future of our community. Keeping them emotionally healthy is
not only important for them, but also our communities as well. We all suffer when a
loved one passes but in kids, the emotional impact can be critical. We all want the best
for our children. It starts by making sure they develop into healthy adults, physically
and emotionally.
Goals, Objectives, and Outcomes
The goal of Josie’s Place’s is to reduce the sense of isolation internalized by adolescences
after the death of a family member or friend. We wish to ensure the mental health of all
children and adolescents along with their families throughout the bereavement process
to allow healthy development into adulthood.
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10. Specifically, these objectives are:
• To build positive social and emotional behaviors of bereaved adolescence in ages
13 to 17.
• To create a safe and nurturing environment where children, adolescents, and
their families explore and express their grief.
• To train and prepare volunteers to facilitate bereavement counseling groups with
compassion and patients.
• To educate local San Francisco High School students about the effects and
characteristics of bereavement.
The outcome of the services of Josie’s Place’s services is to help adolescents (as well as
younger children) and their families to experience some sense of emotional resolution
after the death of a loved one.
Programs and Services
Josie’s Place provides several services to help the bereaved children of San Francisco
communities. The key elements are counseling and education. Josie’s Place has three
counseling groups, one training program, and one high school outreach program.
Structure of Groups
Each group meets for 90 minutes in the evening, twice a month. Trained facilitators host
each group by creating a safe and supportive environment. All groups meet
simultaneously.
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11. Children and Teen Groups
These groups meet in “Talking Circles” where participants tell their own stories of loss
while recollecting their departed loved ones. Everyone has an opportunity to express
feelings associated with bereavement. Discussions concerning loss and activities like
letter writing, art projects, and dramatic play help participants reflect and express their
grief in a peer group environment. In addition, there is free time that includes games
and dramatic plays of the children’s choice. This allows them to take a time out from
their grief or simply to let off steam.
The children’s group hosts no more than 16 kids, with one facilitator for every two
children. The teen’s group hosts no more than 12 teens, with two facilitators.
Adult Group
This group is for parents or caregivers of the grieving children and teens. They meet at
the same time the children’s and teen’s groups meet. The group receives information
about childhood bereavement and how to support children during bereavement. The
format of this group also offers an opportunity for group members to express their own
feeling of bereavement through talks and creative activities that allows them to express
themselves.
The adult group hosts all parents and caregivers with one to two facilitators.
Volunteer Training
Once a year, Josie’s Place hosts a training seminar for future volunteer facilitators.
Training will prepare future volunteers to work with children, teens, and adults.
Volunteers will learn how to mediate conversation and activities focused on the
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12. grieving process. In addition, they will learn to create a safe, friendly, and open
environment where everyone concerned can feel open and secure to talk about their
feelings.
High School Outreach
Josie’s Place hosts talks at high schools throughout San Francisco concerning
bereavements. Talks include:
• The grieving process.
• The effects of dysfunctional grieving.
• How the bereaved effect people around them.
• Why it is important to express grief over the death of a loved one in a healthy
and safe manor.
• The benefit of grief counseling.
Evaluation
Josie’s Place is dedicated to making a difference in our community and to creating
programs that are both nurturing and effective. To that extent, Josie’s Place developed a
method to evaluate the effectiveness of their bereavement groups. They believe the best
indicators of successful therapy are the participants and their parents or caregivers. To
that existent, Josie’s Place has developed a series of evaluation surveys:
• A self-evaluation for participants to evaluate their mental, emotional, and
physical state of being.
• A program evaluation for parents or caregivers to evaluate their children or teens
mental, emotional, and physical state of being.
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13. • A parent or caregiver evaluation for themselves to evaluate their mental,
emotional, and physical state of being.
All evaluations are handed out before the first group meeting begins to establish their
current state of being, then after the last group meeting to establish their new state of
being.
Conclusion
Children suffering grief over the death of a loved one can suffer from post-traumatic
stress and behavioral problems. In adolescents, the consequences can be more serious.
Bereavement issues could lead to isolation, drugs, gangs, and other issues. Josie’s Place
counseling and outreach programs focus on healthy exploration and expression of grief.
Research has shown that programs helping bereaved adolescents to mourn in a healthy
manner are successful and can help restore an adolescent’s mental and emotional
health. The UCSB Project Loss has found in one initiative that out of 24 teenagers 83
percent had a deeper appreciation for life, 79 percent had more caring for loved ones,
and 75 percent had greater emotional strength (Jimerson & Kaufmarn, No Date).
Children are sometimes called “the forgotten mourners.” By funding Josie’s Place, you
help keep our children in the foreground. Children are our future. By keeping them
healthy,--physically and emotionally—so do we keep our future.
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15. Reference List:
Black, S. (2005). Wen Children Grieve. American School Board Journal, Reprint, 27.
Cunningham, L. (1996). The subject of anger. Newhall, CA: Teen Age Grief, Inc. Retrieved
September 4, 2001, from http://www.smartlink.net/~tag/anger.html
Indianapolis Grief & Loss Consulting & Educational Services.
(2003). Lojj study. Indianapolis: Author.
Jimerson, S & Kaufman, A (No Date). Evaluation of Grief Support Services for Bereaved
Youth: An Overview and Update on the UCSB Project LOSS National Collaborative Retrieved
April 24, 2008 from:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Feducation.ucsb
.edu%2Fjimerson%2FFeaturedConferencePresentations%2FProject_LOSS_NSCGS_2002.
ppt&ei=Gr4oSOOyG4OKpwSQ4OWpCw&usg=AFQjCNFIEaIXqTY2064XfG2RmFhGB
v79nA&sig2=Gces0bdyXj9E13wHbCYW4g
National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (2004). Tasman Childhood Traumatic Grief
Educational Materials From:
http://www.nctsnet.org/nctsn_assets/pdfs/reports/childhood_traumatic_grief.pdf
Smith, S. (1999) The Forgotten Mourners. Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Weller, R. A, Weller, E. B, Fristad, M. A, & Bowes, J. M. (1991). Depression in
recently bereaved prepubertal children. American Journal of Psychiatry,
148(11), 1536–1540.
Worden, J. W. & Silverman, P. R. (1996). Parental death and the adjustment of
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16. school-age children. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 33(2), 91–102.
YWCA Indianapolis. (1993). [Survey responses of incarcerated female adolescents at the Eliza
Hendricks School in the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility]. Unpublished data.
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