Courageous Kids

We thought it would be of interest to everyone to revisit our past as an organization and find out in more detail how and why Courageous Kids was started. To do that we had to find Kathy Nussbaum, the woman who created the program. After much research Bruce Shaw, our Development Coordinator, was able to find Kathy in Kodiak, Alaska and had the opportunity to talk with Kathy and learn firsthand how Courageous Kids came about.

The story begins with the death of Kathy’s father from cancer and its impact on her young children. “His death was my children’s death education,” she explained. As a Hospice nurse she had worked with many families with children. “People often got advice from friends or relatives in favor of protecting children from the dying process and the services after the death as much as possible.” Kathy found that if families had something in writing to read about children and grief, they were more likely to reconsider the advice they had been given. And so, following her dad’s death, her way of processing her loss was to write a pamphlet entitled, Including the Children, which our Hospice then gave out to families with children.

...Grief is a normal response to the death of a loved one.
...Youth grieve as intensely as adults but in different ways.
...It is essential for the healthy development of children and teens to grieve a significant loss.
...Healing from a painful loss is possible with support and acceptance.
...Young people need support that is appropriate to their developmental stage.

Courageous Kids provides a safe, confidential environment designed to normalize feelings and help children and teens express and process their grief.

We offer weekly support groups at our office (and in schools as our time allows), an annual summer camp and a Teen Theater Troupe.

Courageous Kids offers weekly grief support meetings for children and teens age 6-18. Age-appropriate activities include art, drama, discussion, commemorative activities. Participants are welcome to attend support groups as long as it continues to be helpful for them. Support groups are also available for parents and guardians.