As another decade comes to a close and Evermore marks its fifth year working to improve bereavement care in the United States, we have reason to celebrate 2019. Here at Evermore, we made big strides toward building our team and raising awareness about the need to support grieving parents. Meanwhile, across the country, new initiatives…
How CuddleCot is changing the care system for stillbirth families The scene opens with a woman, curled up on a hospital bed. A doctor enters, rolling in a white bassinet. “This is called a CuddleCot,” he explains. “It’s a special bassinet that keeps stillborn babies cool so they can stay with their parents a little…
After his son Reid died in a car crash, Tim Hollister helped transform Connecticut’s teen driving laws. The provisions include earlier curfews, no electronic devices, a two-hour teen driving safety course for both teens and their parents and restrictions on who can ride with young drivers. Evermore is dedicating this Father’s Day week to…
Kelly Farley and Barry Kluger are the dads behind the Parental Bereavement Act. Evermore is dedicating this Father’s Day week to bereaved dads who will always be fathers. Kelly Farley and Barry Kluger met because of a horrible coincidence: They knew what it was like to mourn a child. For Kluger, it was his 18-year-old…
In a new memoir, Once More We Saw Stars, father Jayson Greene vividly recounts the raw feelings after his two-year-old daughter Greta died and his continuous journey through grief. Evermore is dedicating this Father’s Day week to bereaved dads who will always be fathers. A stunning accident claimed the life of two-year-old Greta Greene in…
Camp Erin is the largest national bereavement program for kids and teens ages 6 to 17 who are mourning the death of someone close to them. Photo courtesy of Frank McKenna. Evermore is giving focus to younger siblings who have suffered the death of a brother or sister. During the summer months, many surviving siblings…
In one study grieving parents ranked support groups and psychics as the most helpful in coping with their grief. Photo courtesy of Yeshi Kangrang. An expert on grief says bereaved parents shouldn’t discount the benefits One of the most difficult aspects of dealing with the death of a loved one is its finality. Surviving family…
A leading expert in child death investigations talks about his unlikely career. A parent’s response to grief comes in many forms. And, after decades as a medical examiner, Dr. Thomas Andrew, among the country’s leading experts on child death, knows all about that. Andrew is New Hampshire’s former chief medical examiner and spent decades conducting…
47% of surveyed kids under age 18 believe their life will be harder than it will be for other people. Photo by Chinh Le Duc on Unsplash. Evermore’s next few stories will have a “Back to School” theme focusing on both younger children and college-aged students. We are giving focus to siblings who have suffered the death of…
Julie Kaplow, on the left, serves as the Director of the Trauma and Grief Center in Houston, Texas, will be launching the Handle with Care program for children who have witnessed a death. In August we are focusing on “Back to School” at Evermore. We are giving focus to siblings who have suffered the death…
Two grieving mothers seek efforts to bring transparency, safety to college abroad programs Ros Thackurdeen remembers the hype as she sat through a college study abroad session with her youngest son Ravi at Swarthmore University. “It was pretty exciting,” Thackurdeen said. “I wanted to go on it. You had students who talked about their experiences…
June 2013, during recovery from what was supposed to be a routine heart catheterization to assess his heart condition, Ron Kelly’s son’s heart failed. Doctors weren’t able to revive 16-year-old Jon. Today Ron helps other grieving fathers, particularly those in the workplace. After struggling with identity after his son’s death, Ron Kelly helps other men mourn…
Bea’s parents — Rachel and Erin Alder say they are “extraordinarily pleased” by Seattle City Council’s unanimous vote for paid bereavement leave and were thankful for the support they received throughout the process. City employees no longer face impossible choice: to mourn their child or keep your job This week, the Seattle City Council passed “Bea’s Law,” which extends…
Bryan Burgess was killed in action during a 2011 deployment to Afghanistan just 16 days before he was scheduled to return home — a few weeks shy of his 30th birthday. Telling and re-telling the story of his son’s life and sacrifice pulled Terry Burgess from deep depression In the early morning hours before Terry Burgess learned…
Bryan Burgess (center) was killed in action during his final 2011 deployment to Afghanistan just 16 days before he was scheduled to return home — a few weeks shy of his 30th birthday. His parents Terry and Beth created Gold Star Parents retreat and network in his honor. Grieving Bryan, their son who gave all, Texas parents Terry and…
Child deaths, especially those that occur in mass tragedies, are the subject of significant news coverage. Frank Ochberg, chairman emeritus of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Michigan State University, said that journalists have an important role to play in covering child death and trauma. A pioneer in trauma research shares how news stories…
Photo courtesy of Cynthia H. Craft. An award-winning USA Today reporter talks about why she’s covered child death for so long It’s been nearly 23 years, but USA Today reporter Jayne O’Donnell won’t ever forget the moment. Jayne O’Donnell, health policy reporter, USA Today. After writing a series of articles in 1996 that prompted the…
Photo courtesy of AbsolutVision on Unsplash. Evermore’s founder to speak at journalism conference Raising the visibility about the long-lasting effects on parents and siblings after a child dies is a central goal for Evermore, and Joyal Mulheron, Evermore’s founder and executive director, will do just that when she addresses healthcare journalists in early May. Mulheron will…
“Don’t Lean Into The Brokeness,” Joyal Mulheron, The Huffington Post, July 19, 2017. Child death ‘more common’ than many realize, hits black Americans disproportionately The connections we form with our family and friends benefit our mental health, physical health and longevity in countless ways. So, it’s no surprise that the loss of those close relationships,…
When a child dies, what happens next makes all the difference. Evermore works to de-stigmatize the issues bereaved parents face and advise employers, law enforcement, schools and health care about what grief stricken families need to survive one of the worst traumas a human can experience. Photo by Jonatán Becerra on Unsplash. Why we need to…
When a child dies, what happens next makes all the difference. This article brings focus to the cascading consequences of parent grief that our nation’s lawmakers and changemakers can do something about. Photo by Gus Moretta on Unsplash. From job losses to social media trolls, there’s always something When a child dies, a family deeply grieves.…
Cynthia with Sarah-Grace. Grief teaches a mother lessons she never wanted to learn My husband Brad came home to tell me what he had learned minutes earlier. Sarah is gone… Our Sarah-Grace. Our beautiful 24-year-old daughter. Dead. With three words and within mere seconds, I was shattered, gutted, disoriented. Any word that implies destruction, pain…
Mulheron left her career to immerse herself in the science surrounding the fallout of losing a child at any age or cause. She then started Evermore — a nonprofit to change the national response when a child dies. Evermore organization will tackle why and how More. Bereaved. Families. Every day, news coverage reports the death of sons and…