4-12-2010 Suncoast Kid's Place Will be Having a Special Viewing Event of Sesame Street, when families grieve!
JOIN US FOR A SPECIAL VIEWING OF THIS PROGRAM PRODUCED BY PBS AND SESAME STREET. EVERYONE AND ANYONE IS WELCOME TO ATTEND.
The event introduces a new initiative from Sesame Street called, "When Families Grieve" hosted by Katie Couric. Free resource kits for "When Families Grieve", including DVDs featuring Elmo, will be available. The kits provide families with age-appropriate tools to support and comfort children who have experienced the death of a parent or loved one.
WHERE?
Van Dyke Church
17030 Lakeshore RD
Lutz, FL 33558
Worship Center
Kid's Place has Expanded the Program! We now have SKP Young Adult Program!
A Division of Suncoast Kid's Place. A Community Service Project of Van Dyke Church. We have expanded our program to reach out to young adults ages 18 - 30 Years old and their families.
Kid's Place has Expanded!
We are experiencing major growth and God is providing for us to meet needs of grieving families all around the tri-county area. So, we are opening a new site in February 2010. It will be located in the beautiful University Community Center on 22nd Street in Tampa. This will enable us to serve more families who may be unable to come to our current facility. The University area site will be located in one of the most economically depressed areas in Hillsborough County and we are excited to be able to reach out to these families with the love of Christ. Please pray for this important development. We are also looking for volunteers for both locations. Please contact Cheryl Jackson at Cheryl@suncoastkidsplace.org or Pattee Rampt – Pattee@suncoastkidsplace.org or call 813-990-0216.
University Community Center Site Open!
Opened in February, 2010 our new program is in the beautiful University Community Center at 14013 North 22nd Street in Tampa. The success in our first year at Suncoast Kid's Place at our site on Lakeshore Road in Lutz has been phenomenal and, has allowed us to expand into an additional area.
Suncoast Kid's Place - University Area Site serves children ages 3-18 and their families on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month from 7:00-8:30 who have experienced the death of a loved one. There are no costs to attend the program and we are available regardless of when the loss happened.
We use a peer support group model, originally developed by The Dougy Centers National Children's Grief Network. They have 25 years of experiencing and have helped over 20,000 people deal with grief in healthy ways.
Anyone interested in the program, may contact our office at 813-990-0216.
Our first meeting at the University Area site was Monday, February 8 at 6:30.
Please help us get the word out because all grieving children deserve a chance to heal.
New Teen and Adult Facility Open!
Suncoast Kid's Place has expanded on our current site. We now have a great new space for the parent groups - with comfortable "living room" type environment. In the same building, there is space for the High School groups to meet - equipped with a pool table, table tennis, dartboard, WII and other activities as well as comfortable areas to hang out and talk.
We have more High School students than any other age groups so we are pleased to have this additional space to accomodate our ever growing needs!
Partnering with Crisis Center of Tampa Bay
Suncoast Kid's Place is collaborating with The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay to present workshops to social service providers in the area on issues related to children and loss. This is a widely misunderstood area in our society that has major implications for children and teens. The first workshop will deal with children and grief related to death of significant people in their lives. Subsequent offerings will include education on other types of loss including divorce, abandonment etc.
We will be publicizing the educational events in the future. This is in line with our goal at Kid's Place to partner with professionals who work directly with families to provide hope and healing to those who have experienced loss.
You can find out more about the Crisis Center and the variety of workshop and learning opportunities they provide at www.crisiscenter.com.
Kid's Place is Growing!
We are
seeing tremendous growth at Suncoast Kid's Place - the Center for grieving
children, teens and families. When we opened our doors on June 2, 2008, we
had 20 participants - now we have over 100!
Thanks
to Van Dyke Church for providing the funds and support for this much needed
ministry. We are in the position now where we are expanding in order to
continue being a beacon of hope to hurting families in the Tampa Bay area. If you would like to make a donation, please contact:
Van Dyke Church 813-968-3983 Mail Donations to:
PO Box 340424, Tampa FL 33694
Email:
Cheryl Jackson, Director, at Cheryl@suncoastkidsplace.org or
Pattee Rampt,
Associate Director, at
Pattee@suncoastkidsplace.org
Memory buttons - As you know one thing we strive toward at Kid's Place is nurturing a connection with our loved ones. To this end we are offering memory buttons. These are 3 inch buttons everyone (including parents kids and volunteers) will be invited to wear while ar the Center. The buttons will have a photo of our loved one.
Events, Meetings, and Coverage of
Suncoast Kid's Place
View the Suncoast Kid's Place on CTN interview with
the Director, Cheryl Jackson and Associate Director, Pattee Rampt June 16,2009 @ 9:30 pm and June 17,2009 @ 11:30 am (Channel 2 on Bright House) View the Suncoast Kid's Place Studio 10 interview with
the Director, Cheryl Jackson and Associate Director, Pattee Rampt @ http://www.studio10.tv/day/thursday/segment.aspx/96250/Suncoast_Kids_Place
