“This isn’t counseling- it’s peer-to-peer support,” Murphy says. Parents of both younger and older children meet separately, and most families stay in the program for two years. Josie’s Place offers a twice a month, 90-minute evening group for up to 12 kids, ages 5-12, and another for teens only because their needs are different. “It’s an issue that used to be overlooked entirely because children’s grief wasn’t understood well. “I felt isolated and didn’t get the support I needed either time,” Murphy says, adding that despite more awareness of mental health these days, that kind of support still isn’t widespread. Murphy, 70, a certified life coach, came to her work from her own experiences of death: She was 4 years old when her mother died of breast cancer and a young adult when her stepmother, who raised her, died. Kids keep the dreamcatchers by their beds at night, for protection. Besides the annual national awards, media partners - 125 newspapers and radio and television stations in 70 communities - make more frequent local awards to “unsung heroes” like Murphy.Īlaia Haberman, 9, holds the dreamcatcher she made - its webs catch the frightening bad dreams, common following a loss, and let the good dreams pass through. Robert Taft and social entrepreneur Sam Beard more than four decades ago, honor people for exceptional public service. The Jefferson Awards, established by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. They grieve in small doses and then they go out and play.” - Pat Murphy, Co-founder and Director, Josie’s Place “What I see over and over is that kids touch grief, then step away. The next week the two-minute segment aired multiple times on the station and on KCBS FM radio. Ten days later, the station sent a team to Josie’s Place - a modest three-room space she rents in a church - where they filmed Murphy, a volunteer facilitator, and a mother and child in the program. The next Monday, KPIX-TV, a CBS affiliate and local Jefferson Award media partner, called Murphy to say she was an award winner. Hallisy sent the nomination to the local Jefferson Awards Foundation on a Wednesday in August. “I thought about it for a few months but finally agreed.”Īfter that, things moved fast. “It was completely unexpected and I was hesitant,” says Murphy. And Murphy and program volunteers provide critical incident response to schools and businesses following a loss in their community.ĭespite capacity groups and increasing calls for Josie’s Place services, Murphy balked at the award idea. They also keep an extensive resource list of similar grief programs outside San Francisco, camps, national programs and literature. Murphy and Andrea Bass, associate director, train clinicians and staff at local mental health agencies and schools on how to work with grieving children and teens. Its free evening and school-based groups for children who have lost loved ones has served hundreds of grieving children and their families and trained 130 volunteers to lead those groups. Pat Murphy was surprised and flattered when Joe Hallisy, her friend of 40-plus years, said he wanted to nominate her for the prestigious Jefferson Award for Public Service in the Bay Area.Īs co-founder and director of Josie’s Place since 2007, Murphy knew that her program was unique in San Francisco. During a “talking circle” about change, Josie’s Place participants and facilitators share what they want to let go of from the past and what they’re looking forward to as the new school year starts.
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