Hope On the Green

Rays of Hope is a safe, neutral place for children ages 4-18 to do the work of grief. Children who have experienced significant loss due to death, separation, divorce, incarceration, deployment, or foster care are encouraged to participate. Through facilitated peer support groups, children share experiences, use creative arts as tools of expression, and acquire coping skills to work through the challenging issues that accompany grief.

• 1 in 13 children will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18
• Roughly 1 in 2 children will see their parents' marriage breakup
• 1 in 28 children have incarcerated parents
• 391,000 children are in the foster care system
• 80% of Americans have experienced the loss of a close friend or relative - however, only 46% knew where to turn in their community for help.
• 54% of those who lost a parent growing up say they struggled to find grief resources after the loss.
• Among Americans who lost a parent growing up, 68% said that it would have been easier to cope with their grief if our society was more open to talking about death and loss.

* Statistics provided by the New York Life Foundation.