May 21, 2010
Bereavement Program receives grant from Central Susquehanna Community Foundation
Columbia Montour Home Health and Hospice is pleased to announce that it is the recipient of a $4,000 grant awarded through the Berwick Health and Wellness Fund (BHWF) of the Central Susquehanna Community Foundation. The mission of the Berwick Health & Wellness Fund is to improve the health and welfare of the Greater Berwick-area community. These grant funds have been awarded in furtherance of the mission and goals of the BHWF and will support the residents of its service area.
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 2009, the total expenses related to the camps alone were nearly $90,000 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 the next year, 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 $104,000. 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.