Clients gather for a training session in the living room of the Center.
break to provide maximum support to
families. The newly single parent may
need to be working during these school
breaks, Franchesca points out, so
Camp Heroes serves tangible as well as
emotional needs.
“Camp Heroes gives everybody that
extra support and sets the tone for the
holidays,” says Franchesca. During the
summer, the Center takes more than
80 grieving children ages six through
seventeen to Hermann Sons Life Camp
in Comfort, Texas.
Pastors and other colleagues can
attend training events to develop
counseling skills in the area of child
trauma. The Grief Education Institute
meets quarterly and offers CEUs to
applicable professionals. Those interested
can find information about upcoming
events on the Center’s website.
New groups have been developed as
needs have emerged. Previously they
didn’t provide adult support groups,
but, Franchesca says, “we saw parents
sitting outside talking while they
waited for their children and realized
they needed support as well.” Another
new group is forming: grandparents
raising grandchildren.
As the numbers of teens committing
suicide continues to rise, support
groups for their close friends and family
members have been created as well.
“We’re ultimately about ensuring
relationships are strong and healthy so
families feel they can move on together,”
Franchesca says.
She remembers a teen who was
extremely emotionally guarded. “He
always had his headphones on,” she
says, “and we weren’t sure if he was
even listening. He progressed to just
one earbud, then throwing them over
his shoulder. It was great to see him
opening up and laughing at the end of
the semester,” she says. “Sometimes
moving forward without carrying the
baggage of trauma is a slow process.”
Emma Wood is an example of one
for whom the Children’s Bereavement
Center made all the difference. Now a
sophomore in college, Emma lost her
father to leukemia at the age of 10.
After participating in the program, she
volunteered at the Hermann Sons grief
camp as well as took part in healing
circles at the Center.
“In my role as a young adult, I can
really connect with the younger kids,”
she says. “It was easier for them to
come talk to me and open up than it
might be with an adult. It was really
cool to see them heal through that.”
Emma’s mother, Leslie, a licensed
clinical social professional, also
worked at the Center. Emma says her
mother “finds it really important we
are involved there at the Children’s
Bereavement Center because it is the
place that helped us when we lost our
dad.”
Children at the Center visit with a pet from Therapy
Animals San Antonio to help overcome their grief.
205 W. Olmos Drive, San Antonio, TX 78212
www.cbcst.org
(210) 736-HUGS or (210) 736-4847
Be A Light.
Follow. Learn about events on social
media. Invite. Ask your church leadership
if they’d like to develop counseling skills in
the area of child trauma; the Bereavement
Center can train them. Pray. Ask God to
help every child find the help they need.
Give. Send a monetary donation or teddy
bear through Amazon Smile. Or, sign up up
to be a Potluck Partner.
S TOR Y MADE POS S I B L E B Y:
DOCUmation provides IT, print, and software
solutions to businesses and nonprofits
throughout Texas and beyond. As a company
that values character, community, and
customer, our goal is to provide service that
serves. We want what we do to not only
serve our customers needs, but also our
community’s needs. Giving back creates
a ripple that can reach places you never
thought possible. Every time we partner
with a nonprofit, we uphold our commitment
to leave our community better than
when we started. Each year, DOCUmation
proudly supports nonprofits throughout our
community. When you partner with us, you
support them, too.
DOCUmation
www.mation.com (210) 341-4431
info@mation.com
A girl chooses an item from the Sand Tray Suite to
express her feelings.
“ The loss of a loved one is always hard. Imagine
being a kid going through a loss like that.
They’re so fragile. We need to provide services
that help kids not only cope with the loss, but
that also provide them with tools to help deal
with their emotions and help them to continue
moving forward in a healthy
way. The Children’s Bereavement
Center supports a huge need in
our community.”
Hunter Woolfolk, Co-President DOCUmation
October / November 2019 www.saBeacon.com 10
/www.cbcst.org
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