Resources
Local TCF Chapters
Arlington Chapter
Meets 2nd Thursday of each month at 7:30 pm
Trinity Presbyterian Church
5533 N. 16th Street (corner of N.16th and Inglewood Streets)
Arlington, VA 22205
www.tcfarlington.org.
Contact: Heidi Wagner Haggerty, heidiwagner@gmail.com. (571) 216-5909
Fairfax Chapter
Meets 1st Wednesday of each month at 7:30 pm
Historic St. Mary’s Catholic Church Hall (next to the Church)
Fairfax Station Road at Rte. 123 (Ox Road) intersection
www.tcffairfax.org
Contact: Carol Marino, carolmarino1@gmail.com, Chapter phone 703-622-3639
Leesburg Chapter
Meets 1st Wednesday of each month at 7:30 pm
St. James Episcopal Church – Janney Parlor
14 Cornwall St. NW
Leesburg, VA
www.tcfleesburg.org
Contact: Bev or Bernie Elero, 540-882-9707
Prince William Chapter
Meets 3rd Thursday of each month at 7:30 pm
Grace United Methodist Church
Library, 2nd Floor
9750 Wellington Rd
Manassas, VA
www.tcfprincewilliam.org
Contact: Jennifer Malloch, jmmalloch@gmail.com, 571-229-0768
TCF Reston (for no surviving children)
Meets 2nd Saturday of each month at 2 pm
North County Government Bld.
Reston Police Station Bld.
12000 Bowman Town Drive
Reston, VA
Contact: Nancy Vollmer (VA) 703-860-8587, Sharon Skarzynski (MD) 410-757-5049
Washington, DC Chapter
Meets 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7 pm
The Howard University
The Blackburn Center
2397 6th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20059
www.tcfwashingtondc.org
NATIONAL AND LOCAL RESOURCES
National:
The Compassionate Friends National Headquarters 48660 Pontiac Trail, #930808 Wixom, MI 48393 www.compassionatefriends.org (877) 969-0010
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: www.afsp.org
(888) 333-2377
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
(800) 273-8255 (TALK)
M.I.S.S. Foundation: www.missfoundation.org.Support following the death of a child. Local contact, Roberta Quick, 703-728-8446.Meets the 2nd Tuesday of the month.
SIDS/SUIDS: www.sids.org. Information on SIDS and support after a child has died from SIDS
CJ Foundation for SIDS: www.cjsids.org. Supports grieving families following the death from SIDS.
GriefNet: www.griefnet.org. Online support group of persons dealing with grief, death and major loss.
Good Grief: www.goodgrief.org. Educate and provide programs children, young people and adults challenge by loss and change
Local:
Washington Regional Transplant Community: www.beadonor.org
(703) 641-0100
MIS/Share: www.misshare.org.
Contact: 703-647-0911or support@misshare.org.
St. Luke’s United Methodist Church
7628 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA
Meets the 2nd Thursday of every month, 7:30-9:30 p.m.
MIS/Share, 301-460-6222 (24 hr. info Line) for VA also
Contact: Diane DelGrasso and Cubby LaHood
Meetings at Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring, MD
William Wendt Center for Loss and Healing: www.wendtcenter.org.
4291 Connecticut Ave., Suite 300, WDC, 20008, 202-624-0010,
E-mail: info@wendtcenter.org.
Library
TCF Arlington Chapter Library
The Arlington Chapter maintains a large lending library of books that may be checked out by our members. A variety of books cover subjects such as grief, loss, healing, hope, spiritually, poems, infant loss, suicide, etc.
Recommended Readings
When Bad Things Happen to Good People
Harold S. Kushner
Schocken Books, 1989
Addresses the questions that are raised when tragedy occurs
The Bereaved Parent
Harriet Sarnoff-Schiff
Penquin Books, 1977
The classic guide for bereaved parents and those who want to help them.
A Broken Heart Still Beats: After Your Child Dies
Anne McCracken and Mary Semel
Editors Hazelden, 1998
A collection of fiction, poetry, and essays about the search for meaning after the death of a child.
Facing the Ultimate Loss: Coping With the Death of a Child
Robert J. Marx and Susan Wengerhoff Davidson
A compassionate guide to the grief process for parents who are mourning the death of a child. Also provides professional with insights to help grieving parents.
The Poems of Sascha Wagner
Sascha Wagner
Tennessee Valley Publishing, 2008
Poetry that is a source of hope and comfort to bereaved parents. The Unspeakable Loss: How do You Live After a Child Dies Nisha Zenoff Da Capo Lifelong Ppress, Hachette Book Group, 2017 This unique book explores the aftermath of the death of a child with wisdom, depth, and incredible love. The Five Ways We Grieve Susan A. Berger Trumpeter, Boston & London, 2011 This book offers a new approach to understanding and coping with the losses every human being experiences. The author gives bereaved people a useful tool for interpreting their responses to a loss and creating a new normal for their lives. Understanding Your Grief Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D Companion, 2003 Ten Essential Touchstones for finding hope and healing your Heart. I Walked a Mile With Sorrow
Mary S. Cleckley Centering Corporation, 2006 Mary Cleckley's book gives a new grieving parent information and insight during those first months and years. Breathe A Memoir of Motherhood, Grief, and Family Conflict Kelly Kittel SWP, 2014 A mother's heartbreaking account of losing two sons in the span of nine months--and of learning how to embrace love, honesty, and joy in the face of tragedy. Comfort: A Journey Through Grief Ann Hood 2008 Ann Hood writes about the death of her five year old daughter Grace. She says she writes about loss and grief because when I do, I'm also writing about love, and hope, and family, and all the big messy, glorious things in our lives.
This is not intended to be an complete list of grief books. Hopefully this will spark some ideas and point to that which has been helpful to others. Trust your own intuition as you look through these and other resources that you come across. Discover what works for you. Please feel free to share your discoveries with us too.
Those first few years I found it helpful to wander through the book store's grief/help section.
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