Bereaved Parents of the USA

I wanted to bring your attention to another great resource for help and support for those that have lost a child of any age.  Bereaved Parents of the USA is a national nonprofit organization that offers support and hope for those that are newly bereaved, whether they are the parents, grandparents or siblings of the child that has died.

This July Bereaved Parents is have a National Gathering in the Washington D.C. area.

They also host support groups throughout the U.S.  You can find more information about their support groups on their website or if you are interested in starting a chapter in your area if there isn't one already.

Bereaved Parents of the USA also has a national and chapter newsletter with articles and poems to help those grieving.

Below is information about Bereaved Parents of the USA taken directly from their website........

About Bereaved Parents of the USA

Bereaved Parents of the USA (BP/USA) was founded in 1995 by a group of bereaved parents from across the country. Their sole purpose for organizing this group was to offer support, understanding, encouragement and hope to other bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents after the death of their children, brother, sister or grandchildren. This purpose remains the thrust of BP/USA today.

Bereaved Parents of the USA is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of seven members, being elected by the chapter members. All work within the BP/USA organization on both the national and local chapters level is done by volunteer bereaved parents. There are no paid salaries within BP/USA

The goals of BP/USA

• Offer support, understanding, encouragement and hope to bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents.

• Aid and support those who are suffering the loss of a child, brother, sister or grandchild regardless of race, creed or financial status.

• Educate families about the grief process in all its complexities pertaining to the death of a child at any age and from any cause.

• Provide telephone numbers and email addresses of other bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents who are able to offer support to other more newly bereaved families.

• Help organize new chapters of BP/USA that may offer assistance to their local bereaved families.

• Hold monthly chapter meetings where sharing, support and encouragement can be provided.

• Maintain lending libraries at chapter meetings with helpful books on grief and rebuilding one’s life.

• Provide a National Newsletter and individual chapter newsletters to aid with grief work.

• Provide an Annual Gathering where helpful speakers, workshops, sharing sessions and much more will be provided.

• Inform and educate professionals, friends, employers, co-workers, clergy and others on the nature and duration of parental, sibling and grandparent grief.

BP/USA is Non-Denominational

Bereaved Parents of the USA encompasses no religious creed. Members are free, however, to state their religious beliefs and the role those beliefs have played in their life and grief journeys.

Funding

BP/USA is a non-profit self-help support group with 501(c) (3) IRS status. Both our national organization and are local chapters are supported solely by volunteer donations. There are no dues or fees charged to belong to BP/USA. We have all already paid the ultimate price to qualify for membership in this group: the death of our precious children. The national organization does not charge its chapters yearly fees. BP/USA believes that when its chapters are able, those chapters will support their national organization with donations. All gifts to BP/USA are tax deductions to the extent permitted by the Internal Revenue under the provisions of 501(c) (3).

Bereaved Parents of the USA Credo

We are the parents whose children have died. We are the grandparents who have buried grandchildren. We are the siblings whose brothers and sisters no longer walk with us through life.

We come together as Bereaved Parents of the USA to provide a haven where all bereaved families can meet and share our long and arduous grief journey.

We attend month gatherings whenever we can and for as long as we believe necessary. We share our fears, confusion, anger guilt, frustrations, emptiness and feelings of hopelessness, so that hope can be found anew. As we accept, support, comfort and encourage each other, we demonstrate to each other that survival is possible.

Together we celebrate the lives of our children, share the joys and the triumphs as well as the love that will never fade. Together we learn how little it matters where we live, what our color or our affluence is or what faith we uphold as we confront the tragedies of our children’s deaths.

Together, strengthened by the bonds we forge at our gatherings, we offer what we have learned from each other to every more recently bereaved family.

We are the Bereaved Parents of the USA.

                                                        We welcome you.