The Spring 2024 class selected Mourning Hope as a recipient of a $5,000 grant to support Camp Erin, a weekend retreat for kids who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
Most of life is about choices. We choose options that we think will make what we want to happen, happen. But what about the things that happen to us? As humans, the most uncomfortable things in life are the ones we can’t control and the ones that we don’t understand.
Grief is one of those things. It sparks unfamiliar thoughts and feelings - and a local nonprofit wants to make sure no one has to go through that alone. Mourning Hope Grief Center was founded in Lincoln in 1994, and recently celebrated 30 great years of working towards its mission – to companion “children, adults and families before and after a death loss. Mourning Hope provides grief support groups, counseling, community education, resources and referrals.” In these 30 years, Mourning Hope has served 15,743 grieving members of the community. This has involved 95,000 volunteer service hours, which is another big part of what keeps Mourning Hope going.
Through its tailored support groups, Mourning Hope has continued meeting the people they serve where they’re at. They recognize the importance of offering services that bring people together while honoring the unique experiences of grief so that every person’s needs are met – all for free, which is a difficult feat and one not many resources can offer.
Strive to Thrive was excited to be able to extend $5,000 to Mourning Hope as one of our Spring 2024 Grant Recipients, made possible by the generous contributions of Rhonda Seacrest. Through Strive to Thrive’s interviews, interactions, site visit, and service project to Mourning Hope, the passion for its work was evident. As Tara Gregg, Grants and Development Director, described the workplace culture, “It’s really unique here. There’s a certain energy in this building […] everyone who walks in remarks on it” and that the staff and volunteers “have such huge hearts to be able to just lend them so compassionately.”
While grief is a heavy topic, Mourning Hope strives to create a warm and welcoming environment for the people it serves. “It’s interesting because when people think about a grief center, they think it’s going to be a sad place. And there is so much sadness, but there’s also so much joy […] we hold all of these emotions simultaneously – the grief and the joy and the sadness and sorrow but also the optimism and excitement for the future, right? We try to embody that here,” explained Gregg.
Where will the Strive to Thrive grant go? Towards Camp Erin, a fall weekend retreat where special connections are made and healing happens. Camp Erin was created in the name of Erin Metcalf, a teenager who died in 2001. Erin was worried about how her family and siblings would cope following her death and was cognizant of the fact that grief is a very difficult process for anyone, let alone for younger children. Mourning Hope’s Camp Erin Lincoln is one of many host sites for the national network Eluna but serves as the only camp location in the Great Plains region. Camp consists of 65 participants between ages 6-17, who are placed in small groups with other grieving youth of the same age while having the opportunity to get away for a weekend. The magic of camp for these participants consists of team building, challenge courses, reflection activities, crafts, meals and the opportunity to share stories and memories about a lost loved one – all while surrounded by a group of individuals who have the empathy and shared understanding to support one another.
Camp Erin provides an invaluable safe space for children to heal. As Gregg describes it, camp activities are designed to help participants “remember their person and identify the support system in their life that they can rely on, even though their person is no longer here.” One of these support systems is Mourning Hope, as many participants stay engaged with Mourning Hope even after camp, which speaks to the depth of the connections made by taking part in Mourning Hope’s programs and services.
We are proud to support Mourning Hope and can’t wait to see the amazing steps this special organization will continue to take for the Lincoln community!
Learn more about Mourning Hope at https://www.mourninghope.org/
Article authored by Katelyn Mullinax, marketing team member.