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Mission & Vision
Kara’s mission is to provide grief support for children, teens, families and adults. Our guiding values are empathy and compassion. Every day we provide caring support to children and adults affected by loss and grief. Our vision is to see people of all ages compassionately supported on their journey through grief so they can move toward renewed hope and meaning. We serve individuals who are grieving a death as well as those managing a terminal illness (their own or another's).
History
Kara' s founding is rooted in the early 1970s, when a growing awareness swept through the United States, England and other countries that the way contemporary society handled death, based in the medical establishment, was inadequate. The seminal work of Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and the emerging hospice movement stimulated discussions about death and dying in Palo Alto and other communities. During this same period, Dr. Charles Garfield established the Shanti Project in San Francisco to train and engage volunteers to serve and support dying patients. Palo Alto Projects, modeled after the Shanti Model of Peer Support, was incorporated in December 1976, with 17 peer counselor volunteers. In February of 1978 the organization's name was officially changed to Kara to more accurately reflect its grief support focused mission. Today, our staff and over 150 trained volunteers serve and support those who are grieving in our community. Kara does not espouse a particular religion or philosophy. We encourage those we serve to draw strength from their own personal spiritual beliefs, family, friends and other community resources to build sustaining support.
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STAR Institute is the premier
treatment, research and education
center for children and adults with
Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). This includes feeding disorders and other disorders with sensory issues such as autism and ADHD.
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Feeling lost, isolated and alone in your grief? Finding people who understand can be a big challenge in grief, but the right support can help. Grief in Common is the only online community that has been designed to connect those who are grieving based on background and similar experiences of loss. Our site is constantly monitored to create a safe, warm and welcoming environment. Professional grief facilitators are on hand to provide one-on-one support or answer any questions you may have. Sign up today to create a profile that outlines who you are, who you’ve lost and the circumstances surrounding that loss, and make a connection with someone who understands.
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HealGrief, a nonprofit, is a social support network for people who are grieving, bereaved or for those just wanting to help them. By taking a modern approach to the way individuals communicate a loved one’s death, HealGrief brings family, friends and communities from around the globe to a virtual place to grieve and heal together. Everything they do is inspired by their core mission: guiding one’s journey with grief into a healthy grief recovery.
From the moment a loved one dies, HealGrief.org guides individuals through grief’s journey. They begin by taking the place of the traditional obituary. At no cost, users create a funeral notice and can choose to disseminate it to family and friends around the globe. From within the funeral notice, virtual candles are lit and memories are shared. Cathartic to users, this provides instant comfort as the funeral notice transitions into a celebration of the decedent’s life. This online interaction, changes the way we handle grief, but ultimately provides comfort as one journeys to a healthy grief recovery.
Additional no-fee programs include a virtual:
Candle Gallery - Individuals can light and share a virtual candle in memory of their loved one;
Before I Die…wall - A virtual wall provoking thoughts about living life, to its fullest, every day.
Loss Project & Artful Healing - Inspiring healing through art.
PetsCountToo! - Providing tools to guide a child’s first experience with death into a healthy grief recovery.
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Actively Moving Forward, a HealGrief program is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting grieving college students.
1 in every 3 college students are grieving a loved one’s death or the diagnosis of a loved one’s terminal illness! The organization accomplishes its mission by creating Actively Moving Forward chapters on college campuses nationwide. AMF, an acronym for ActivelyMovingForward connects and empowers these grieving students to support one another and participate in community service in memory of their loved ones. Students are given the tools to cope, and the education to understand that grief is normal; grief is not depression; suicide is never an option; and a healthy grief recovery does exist.
AMF also supports non-collegiate young adults and professionals working with college students and young adults by creating a wealth of virtual information, programming, and community.
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The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. AFSP creates a culture that’s smart about mental health through education and community programs, develops suicide prevention through research and advocacy, and provides support for those affected by suicide. Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, and with a public policy office in Washington, D.C., AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states with programs and events nationwide. AFSP celebrates 30 years of service to the suicide prevention movement.
Learn more about AFSP in its latest Annual Report, and join the conversation on suicide prevention by following AFSP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
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Brighter Days Grief Center is a nonprofit organization serving grieving families in the state of Minnesota. They provide free grief support resources, services and programs to adults, young adults, teenagers and children who are grieving the death or terminal diagnosis of a beloved family member. Through their many partnerships and gracious donors, they tailor compassionate resources for each family member including access to grief and trauma support, legal and financial guidance, peer-based connections and youth/family events and workshops. Their signature program, Embrace-A-Family, provides financial assistance for basic necessities, academic support and psycho social care. Additionally, they work with schools, churches and community organizations to ensure grieving children and families receive compassionate and appropriate support in all settings. To learn more, visit their website at www.brighterdaysgriefcenter.org
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Women Against Abuse, Inc. is the leading domestic violence service provider in Philadelphia. We serve an average of nearly 12,000 people each year through emergency safe havens and transitional housing, legal representation, community-based supportive services, trauma-informed behavioral health therapy, hotline counseling, community education, advocacy, and technical assistance.
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Intermountain Therapy Animals (ITA) is a human service organization, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, headquartered in Utah, that brings the gift of animal companionship and interaction to people in need. Our mission is to enhance quality of life through the human/animal bond. Our volunteers (people and their own pets) make regular visits to those who are physically or developmentally disabled, emotionally or psychologically impaired, lonely or suffering from depression. All services are free of charge to both client and facility.
ITA therapy animals and their handlers are screened, trained, licensed and insured to participate in animal-assisted interactions (AAI), which may be either animal-assisted activities (AAA) or animal-assisted therapy (AAT). Successful teams have completed both health and temperament screening and volunteer training.
Serving our communities since 1993, we are one of the largest groups of our kind in the United States, with more than 350 volunteer teams doing animal-assisted therapy at more than 100 hospitals, counseling centers, nursing facilities, detention homes, extended care centers, and schools. Chapters of ITA now thrive in Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and Kentucky. We also have affiliated colleague groups in 13 additional states.
We are also the founders of Reading Education Assistance Dogs® (R.E.A.D.®), a literacy support program to foster in children the love of books and the reading environment. R.E.A.D. has spread throughout all 50 of the United States and at least 15 other countries since we launched it in 1999.
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