News

BOYS & GIRLS CLUB AND SOLACE TREE HOST HEALING FOR THE HOLIDAYS DEC. 13

by

Event focused on helping children and families dealing with grief during holiday season

RENO, Nev.  (Nov. 30, 2012) – The Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows and the Solace Tree will host Healing for the Holidays, Dec. 13 at 5:30 p.m. The event focuses on helping children and families deal with grief as a result of a lost loved one. By using art and music, The Solace Tree will help children and teens creatively explore their own experiences of grief, as well as offer support to adults with a workshop on how to help their grieving children and teens during the holidays.

This is a FREE public workshop with dinner served through a grant from the New York Life Foundation. Please RSVP to Josh Deason at 775-331-3605 ext. 101 by Dec. 10.

 

WHAT:              Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows and Solace Tree host Healing for the Holidays – The event assists children, teens and families dealing with grief over the loss of a loved one – especially difficult during the holiday season. FREE workshop and open to the public – dinner will be served.

WHEN:             December 13, 2012, 5:30 – 8:00 p.m.

WHERE:           Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows – Donald W. Reynolds Facility

2680 East Ninth Street, Reno

RSVP:               Please RSVP to Josh Deason at 775-331-3605 ext. 101 or jdeason@bgctm.org

For more information on the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows please call 775-331-KIDS (775-331-5437) or visit www.BGCTM.org.

The Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows is the leading non-profit youth services agency in

Read more

Dealing with Loss During the Holidays

by

The Solace Tree Shares Tips for

Dealing with Loss During the Holidays

 Reno, NV (November 19, 2012) – The holiday season can be especially difficult for individuals and families who are grieving the loss of a loved one. “There is no right or wrong way to grieve,” shares Emilio Parga, Executive Director of the solace Tree. “Some have said that not having their loved one with them during the holidays has intensified their pain, others have talked about the joy that has been experienced through continuing traditions that were special to the loved one that they have lost.”

During a recent visit to the Solace Tree, children and teens, along with their parents, shared some guidelines that have made it easier to get through the holidays without their loved one. These are only suggestions, and may or may not be appropriate for your distinguishing circumstance.

  • Talk about your grief as a family and don’t be afraid to talk about the person who has died. Share your thoughts, feelings and memories with people you trust.
  • Invite children in the family to help make choices or decisions about what to do or not to do during the upcoming holidays.
  • Be prepared for all types of reactions. Each individual grieves at their own pace.
  • Children and adolescents need time to grieve. Allow them space, either alone or with support.
  • Keep the spirit alive for young children. It will play a role in
    their future beliefs about the holiday season.
  • Do things that are simple such as only decorating one room instead of the whole house.
  • Shop online or through catalogs

    Read more

In the News

by

In the News Tahoe Swimmer, NPR, September 12, 2013 UNR grad to swim Lake Tahoe in father’s memory, Sierra Sun, July 30, 2013 Volunteer Training, RGJ, July 29, 2013 UNR grad to swim Lake Tahoe in father’s memory, Tahoe Daily Tribune, July 23, 2013 Swimming for Solace: Son’s Quest to Honor Father’s Legacy, KOLO, July … Read more

Verizon Supports The Solace Tree’s “Virtual Solace” Campaign

by

Contact: Jackie Shelton

jackieshelton@sbcglobal.net | 775.772.6543

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Reno, NV (November 1, 2012) – Verizon Wireless has awarded the Solace Tree a Verizon Foundation Grant Award of $5,000 to be used to help launch “Virtual Solace,” a web-based program that will allow the Solace Tree to offer grief support group services to remote or underserved communities. “We’re doing good work on a local level, and this program will allow us to leverage our proven model beyond the Reno-Sparks area,” said David Wertzberger, Solace Tree Board Chair. “We get requests for help from all over the country, but it’s not feasible for us to set up a Solace Tree in all these places just yet. With Virtual Solace, we can still help these people.”

In the spring, the Solace Tree received a grant of $35,000 from the Chicago-based William C. McGowan Charitable Fund, which has a vision to “impact lives today, create sustainable change, and empower future generations to achieve their greatest potential.” The grant, which is subject to the Solace Tree matching it with $31,200, was the impetus for launching “Virtual Solace.” “Unresolved grief and community depression can lead to delinquency and crime. Our work alleviates that for communities like Douglas County, Fallon, Fernley, Elko, Austin, and Newburgh, NY, pretty much anywhere there’s an Internet connection,” says Emilio Parga, Executive Director. ”And, there is not currently grief support available for children and teens in much of Nevada and in many areas of the country.”

Money raised will go toward staff and technology necessary to implement

Read more

Wear Blue for Children’s Grief Awareness Day Thursday, November 15

by

Reno, NV (November 3, 2012) – The Solace Tree is joining with Highmark Caring Place, a grief center based in Pittsburgh, PA, to commemorate Children’s Grief Awareness Day, which is observed on the Thursday before Thanksgiving each year. “It’s a day focused on remembering the children all around us who have experienced the death of a loved one,” explained Solace Tree Executive Director Emilio Parga. “Families often feel more alone during the holidays and this a reminder to reach out to them and let them know they haven’t been forgotten.”

Participating in Children’s Grief Awareness Day
There are many ways to participate in Children’s Grief Awareness Day but the easiest ways are:

  • Wear blue on that day and let people know why you’re wearing blue.
  • Visit the Children’s Grief Awareness Day Facebook page and join in the conversation while you’re there.
  • Share your thoughts and memories on the Solace Tree Facebook page.
  • Join the Holding on to HOPE campaign at any time of the year to show grieving children there really is hope that it won’t always hurt so badly.
  • If you’d like to take the next step in raising awareness, read about more ideas.

Why Raise Awareness for Grieving Kids and Teens?

  • There are more grieving children than most of us realize – one out of 20 children will experience the death of a parent before they graduate from high school while one out of every seven children will face the death of someone close to them.
  • Many people don’t realize it takes most children much longer to deal with

    Read more

“You’re Not Alone” Benefit Concert, November 10

by

  Minerva Productions presents “You’re Not Alone” Music Concert At MontBleu benefiting the Solace Tree Saturday, November 10, 2012 8:00pm – 2:00am $5.00 to every ticket sold will be donated to the Solace Tree, which supports families who have lost a loved one to a tragic accident. For more information and what they do for … Read more

Starting the Conversation About September 11th

by

Suggestions for teachers, parents and adults when talking to children about September 11th.

Adapted from Donna A. Gaffney, DNSc, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN

How do we begin the conversation with students who are so young that they only have knowledge of 2001 from parents and older siblings or friends? The following suggestions may help in beginning the conversation.

Language: Be consistent in how your refer to September 11, 2001

  • September 11th or September 11, 2001
  • 9/11, (pronounced nine-eleven) the numeric shorthand that has forever labeled this day in ourhistory.
  • If possible show younger students a calendar
  • 9-1-1: Do not use this way of referring to September 11

And correct those who may be using this term
Saying 9-1-1 is confusing, 911 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan

Geographic Considerations

  • Remember this is not just a New York, Washington or Pennsylvania event
  • Students in the metropolitan areas surrounding these cities may be much more savvy about using certain words (9/11, terrorism, etc) but they still may not have full comprehension of their meanings.

Maturity

  • Remember that as a student matures he or she may have a different understanding and new questions about September 11, 2001.
  • Twelve years is a long time in a student’s life. A child who was barely five years old will be at a completely different developmental stage at 16.
  • As children cognitively mature, they are able to comprehend much more information.
  • Adolescents are able to perform abstract reasoning
  • A child or teen may experience feelings of their younger selves on that day, i.e. a 16-year-old remembers the feelings of that day as a 5-year-old.
  • Be prepared to

    Read more

Emilio Parga Named Recipient of the University of Phoenix 2012 Alumni Community Service Award

by

Contact: Jackie Shelton

jackieshelton@sbcglobal.net / 775.772.6543

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Emilio Parga Named Recipient of the University of Phoenix
2012 Alumni Community Service Award

Reno, NV (August 18, 2012) –

Solace Tree Executive Director, Emilio Parga, has been selected as the recipient of the University of Phoenix (UOP) 2012 Alumni Community Service Award. His story will be featured in the UOP alumni magazine. He has also been invited to throw out the first pitch at the UOP Alumni event, being held at the Reno Aces game, Sunday, August 26 at 1:10pm.

In addition to the Solace Tree, Parga has co-founded four other grief centers in Nevada, as well as one in New York, with more planned for the future. He is the author of No Child Should Grieve Alone and four journals written with children for children who have experienced a death, all of which are sold internationally. You’ll Always Be With Me, the Solace Tree documentary he worked on with the local KNPB (the Reno PBS affiliate), was selected as a 2011 Silver Communicator Award winner.

Emilio also serves as an Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, as a bereavement consultant to local schools, social service agencies, universities, hospitals and funeral homes, as well as providing in-service credits, trainings and lectures related to children and teens dealing with death. Working as a volunteer for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), he has provided counseling for military families, as well as the families of 9-11 victims. He is also a national speaker for the

Read more