When a young parent dies, they leave behind a gaping crater in the landscape of their child's world.
Shivah.
Shloshim.
Those first few weeks and months after the parent's loss are like the aftermath of an earthquake. The ground has shifted, nothing feels stable or the same.
As time passes, makeshift workarounds are erected to bridge the gap...
An aunt helps her niece prepare for her first date...
A neighbor offers to take the young boy to shul instead of his father...
A rebbi stops by every week to make Havdalah for the family...
But underneath it all, the void remains.
The empty chair at the Shabbos table becomes a painful symbol of all the experiences the child will never have with their beloved parent.
Visiting day and parent-teacher conferences. Bar mitzvahs and Birkas Kohanim. Siddur plays and graduations. Pesach Seders and upsherins. First day of school and mesivta fathers. Meeting the mechutanim and family trips.
It's an invisible void that makes the pain of loss all the more acute.
Zisel's Links & Shlomie's Club give grieving children a safe space where they can be seen and understood. Staff to support them as they speak and share about the parent they lost, giving them tools to heal and grow. A community of peers who understand what they're going through... because they've been there too.
We have an ever-expanding range of services-weekend retreats, art & music clubs, in-person and Zoom events, monthly publications, therapy referrals, therapy funding, legal & financial services pro bono, an exclusive clothing shop, chassan/kallah programs, and that doesn't even include the many programs built to benefit just one family-because the loss of a parent is felt in every aspect of a child's life.
We can't fill the parent-sized void in the child's life but we can be there for them as they learn to integrate their loss.
Donate today to show bereaved children you care.
Honor the empty chair.
An aunt helps her niece prepare for her first date...
A neighbor offers to take the young boy to shul instead of his father...
A rebbi stops by every week to make Havdalah for the family...
But underneath it all, the void remains.
The empty chair at the Shabbos table becomes a painful symbol of all the experiences the child will never have with their beloved parent.
Visiting day and parent-teacher conferences. Bar mitzvahs and Birkas Kohanim. Siddur plays and graduations. Pesach Seders and upsherins. First day of school and mesivta fathers. Meeting the mechutanim and family trips.
It's an invisible void that makes the pain of loss all the more acute.
Zisel's Links & Shlomie's Club give grieving children a safe space where they can be seen and understood. Staff to support them as they speak and share about the parent they lost, giving them tools to heal and grow. A community of peers who understand what they're going through... because they've been there too.
We have an ever-expanding range of services-weekend retreats, art & music clubs, in-person and Zoom events, monthly publications, therapy referrals, therapy funding, legal & financial services pro bono, an exclusive clothing shop, chassan/kallah programs, and that doesn't even include the many programs built to benefit just one family-because the loss of a parent is felt in every aspect of a child's life.
We can't fill the parent-sized void in the child's life but we can be there for them as they learn to integrate their loss.
Donate today to show bereaved children you care.
Honor the empty chair.
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