Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss

NJ Grief Support Center - Imagine is a free, year-round, trauma-informed children's grief support center located in Mountainside, NJ and serving all of Union County and beyond, for children ages 3-18 and young adults ages 18-30 who are coping with loss due to the death of a parent or sibling. Concurrent grief support groups are available for the parents, guardians or other caregivers of the youth served, and for parents that have had a child die. We also provide support for children and families who have a family member (child or adult) living with a life-altering physical illness. Imagine is a community-based program that uses the peer support group model, the healing arts, physical play, community service, retreats, and education to provide a safe and healing environment for coping with the painful and complicated feelings that accompany loss. Children, teens and adults learn lifelong healthy coping skills, build on their natural resilience, and make meaning from their loss that allows for growth, healing and transformation. Part of our mission is to normalize grief in our society and to "seed" our communities with compassionate listeners that know how to support children, teens, and adults coping with any type of loss including death. To that end, we provide education and training to the public, primarily in schools and agencies, so that they are better equipped to respond when they encounter grieving youth. We also provide onsite support at schools, houses of worship, workplaces, etc., when there has been a death or other traumatic event. Additionally we provide workshops and lunch and learn presentations in business and corporations on the topic of "Grief in the Workplace." At Imagine we believe that no child should grieve alone, and we are working every day to ensure that wherever a child, teen, or young adult turns in their life, that there will be a compassionate adults and peers that will be able to offer support and bear witness to their loss.