As difficult as it is, grief is a natural part of life. United Tissue Resources seeks to support families with the resources, knowledge, and understanding needed to grieve in their own way. We offer the following services to families, regardless of their decision to donate:

• Print resources – Quarterly letters throughout the first year of grief include information about common grief experiences, support for children and adolescents, and other needs.
• Referrals to local resources – Families may receive information about local grief support centers and therapists, as well as other community-based resources to meet basic needs.
• Email and phone follow-up – Our Donor Family Advocate is available by phone and email for grief support, questions about the donation process, and requests for additional resources.
• Workshops and events – Families will receive invitations to grief workshops and remembrance events.

General Support

What’s Your Grief
www.whatsyourgrief.com
What’s Your Grief was created by two Baltimore-area mental health professionals with 20+ years of experience in grief and bereavement, who also each suffered the loss of a parent. What’s Your Grief promotes grief education, exploration, and expression in both creative and practical ways. In addition to blog posts covering a wide array of grief topics, What’s Your Grief also provides webinars and e-courses, such as helping a child return to school after a loss and a grief journaling intensive.

GriefShare
www.griefshare.org
GriefShare groups meet weekly to help you face these challenges and move toward rebuilding your life. Each GriefShare session has three distinct elements: video seminar with experts, support group discussion with focus, and personal study and reflection. GriefShare groups are peer facilitated and meet in 13-week cycles, but attendees are welcome to join at any session in the series. Please see the GriefShare website to find a local group. GriefShare includes Christian teachings but is nondenominational and welcomes people of all faiths and those who do not practice a faith.

Psychology Today
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us
Psychology Today provides a search engine for therapists and support groups. Searches can be filtered by insurance provider, areas of specialization, sexuality, gender, faith, language, faith, and types of therapy.

Good Therapy
www.goodtherapy.org
Good Therapy provides a search engine for therapists and treatment centers. Searches can be filtered by insurance provider, areas of specialization, gender, language, types of therapy, accessibility, and other accommodations including the availability of sliding scale services.

Grieving the Loss of a Child

The Compassionate Friends
www.compassionatefriends.org
The Compassionate Friends provides highly personal comfort, hope, and support to every family experiencing the death of a son or a daughter, a brother or a sister, or a grandchild, and helps others better assist the grieving family. TCF has over 600 chapters serving all 50 states plus Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam, that offer friendship, understanding, and hope to bereaved parents, siblings, grandparents, and other family members during the natural grieving process after a child has died.

Local chapters typically meet once a month for 1 ½ hours on evenings or weekends. Participants are all bereaved family members grieving the loss of a child. No reservations or fees are required to attend meetings. Meetings usually consist of two parts, a time to share and planned programming such as a speaker or specific topics of discussion. Online support and virtual chapters are also offered through scheduled chat rooms and Facebook groups. Please see The Compassionate Friends website to locate your nearest chapter, join an online chat room or Facebook group for support, or request a bereavement packet.

Support for Grieving Children

Hope’s Heroes
hopesheroes.org
Hope’s Heroes, created by LifeNet Health and the New England Organ Bank, is an interactive storybook experience that tells the tale of a little girl whose grandmother was saved thanks to a donor’s generosity. Users ride along with Hope, exploring an entire town of characters living happy, healthy lives thanks to their “heroes.” With interactive learning moments, fun sounds and animations, and tons of hidden surprises, Hope’s Heroes both entertains and educates.

Dougy Center
www.dougy.org
The Dougy Center is an Oregon-based grief support center that also provides support and training locally, nationally and internationally to individuals and organizations seeking to assist children in grief.  Their website includes resources for kids, teens, young adults, and caregivers, as well as a grief podcast.

National Alliance for Grieving Children
childrengrieve.org
The National Alliance for Grieving Children (NAGC) is a nonprofit organization that raises awareness about the needs of children and teens who are grieving a death and provides education and resources for anyone who supports them. Through the collective voice of our members and partners we educate, advocate and raise awareness about childhood bereavement. Please see the NAGC website to search by state for grief support service providers who serve children, teens, and their families.

Suicide Loss

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
afsp.org
Established in 1987, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is a voluntary health organization that gives those affected by suicide a nationwide community empowered by research, education and advocacy to take action against this leading cause of death. AFSP’s services for suicide loss survivors include a peer survivor outreach program, support groups, memory quilts, memorial funds, community events, and other resources. Please see the AFSP website for more information.

Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)
www.taps.org
The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) offers compassionate care to all those grieving the loss of a loved one who died while serving in our Armed Forces or as a result of his or her service. Since 1994, TAPS has provided comfort and hope 24/7 through a national peer support network and connection to grief resources, all at no cost to surviving families and loved ones.

TAPS provides services to suicide loss survivors, including a national gathering, survivor care team, peer mentors, and private Facebook support group.

Crime Victim Services

Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)
https://www.ovc.gov/help/index.html
The U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), provides an online directory of Victim Servicesthroughout the country. OVC also provides information about victim assistance and compensation programs available in communities around the country. Users can search by location, type of victimization, service needed, and agency type.

The National Center for Victims of Crime
www.victimsofcrime.org, victimconnect.org
The National Center for Victims of Crime is a nonprofit organization that advocates for victims’ rights, trains professionals who work with victims, and serves as a trusted source of information on victims’ issues. The National Center for Victims of Crime provides information on a wide range of topics, including the impact of crime, victims’ rights, and the criminal and civil justice processes, as well as resources for victims, their families, and friends.

Victim Connect is a program of the National Center for Victims of Crime. It is a place for crime victims to learn about their rights and options confidentially and compassionately. Victim Connect combines a telephone-based helpline (1-855-4VICTIM), an online chat, and web-based information and service referrals. With extensive specialized training, Victim Assistance Specialists stand ready to help crime victims understand their rights and options, find information and connect with resources, access referrals, and craft next steps to regain control over their lives. Users can also search the online directory for crime victim assistance organizations by services provided, genders served, types of crime, and areas of specialization.

Survivors of Violent Loss
www.svlp.org/home.html
Survivors of Violent Loss exists to build a lifeline of hope and healing by providing support and education to those who live and work with violent death. Coping isn’t easy. Survivors of Violent Loss can help.

Honoring Donors and Donor Families

While our annual donor family event, Life Gives On: Deep From Your Heart in Texas, has unfortunately been canceled for the year due to COVID-19, United Tissue Resources continues to honor donor heroes and their families. If you would like to submit a picture and story about your donor hero, to be shared on United Tissue Resources’ social media accounts, please contact Jeni Pirtle for more information.

Staying Connected During COVID-19

As COVID-19 continues, we recognize that many families may be facing additional stressors while navigating the loss of a loved one. Please see below for ways to stay connected to support systems during this challenging time.