May 18, 2010
Hospice program receives funding - Expanding and enhancing free bereavement services
Columbia Montour Home Health and Hospice is pleased to announce that it is the recipient of a $94,755 grant awarded over a two year period by the Highmark Foundation through its Highmark Healthy High 5 initiative. Highmark Healthy High 5 promotes healthy behaviors in children and adolescents through education, communications, community activities, grants and programming in five areas: nutrition, physical activity, grieving, self-esteem and bullying prevention.
The specific project to be funded through these monies is the Columbia Montour Home Hospice (CMHH) Bereavement Program. The CMHH Bereavement Program has been redesigned to expand on services provided through Camp Courage and Little Brave Hearts, camps that serve grieving children and adolescents, ages 4 to 18 years, who have experienced the death of a significant person in their lives.
The mission of the Bereavement Program is to facilitate the grieving process for children, adolescents and adults in a safe, caring and supportive environment to help them heal and grow through their grief. In fulfilling its mission, CMHH seeks to be a grief resource by creating and delivering a comprehensive set of grief-related programs and outreach services.
Through the provision of bereavement camps, peer support groups, grief-related resources, and educational programming and training, CMHH seeks to provide a broader range of services for children and their families and initiate outreach efforts to communities within its service area.
Since all of the services offered through the Bereavement Program are free of charge, the annual expenses associated with provision of these services are costly. In 2008 and 2009, the total expenses related to the camps alone were approximately $170,000 with the cost per camper at approximately $1200 for the weekend Camp Courage and $900 for the Little Brave Hearts day camp.
It is estimated that over a two year period the total cost related to the expansion of services which includes provision of bereavement camps, peer support groups, grief-related resources, and educational programming and training is $208,000. To learn more about the CMHH Bereavement Program, call 784-1723 or 800-349-4702 or visit the Bereavement Camps website at www.bereavementcamp.org.