H.U.G.S. for CHILDREN
HUGS FOR KIDS
Recently the HUGS (Helping Kids Understand Grief) team from Matthews House Hospice met with representatives from the community, as well as local principals and senior management from the school board to introduce them to the HUGS program. The program was originally designed to help children of parents who lost their lives in 9/11. It has been expanded to provide grief support to any child that has been affected by the death of a loved one.
Wendy Graham, Matthews House Program Coordinator explains “We know that a child’s grief is different from an adult’s, and this program provides specialized support to help them through this difficult process”. Part of the HUGS package includes crafts and a large doll called Mattie pictured above. Co-op college student Shannon Pride shared “sometimes children will express their feelings through Mattie, this gives them the ability to share their emotions freely and comfortably”.
The HUGS program was funded by Honda of Canada, and is available to children in our community. For more information contact Matthews House at 705-435-7218 .
