Hospice of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce a $15,000 Community Expansion Grant from the National Alliance of Grieving Children/New York Life Foundation to support Hospice of Santa Barbara’s Youth Bereavement Program.

The Youth Bereavement Program provides no-cost grief counseling to students in local middle and high schools related to any issues they are experiencing related to the death of a friend or family member.


“We are grateful for the National Alliance of Grieving Children/New York Life Foundation’s investment in our Youth Bereavement Program,” said Tina Fanucchi-Frontado, Hospice of Santa Barbara’s acting CEO. “There are more grieving children than most of us realize – one out of 20 children will experience the death of a parent before they graduate from high school while one out of every seven children will face the death of someone close to them. Our work in the schools helps to normalize feelings for these kids who are grieving; to let them know that they aren’t alone and, in fact, there are many other kids experiencing the same kinds of emotions — emotions and feelings that are natural and part of the grieving process.”

As a part of its Youth Bereavement Program, Hospice of Santa Barbara works in six area high schools, including Dos Pueblos High School, San Marcos High School, Santa Barbara High School, Carpinteria High School, Rincon High School, and Los Robles High School at Los Prietos. Hospice of Santa Barbara has four counselors assigned to the schools with five hours per week dedicated to each school.

The grant announcement comes in conjunction with Children’s Grief Awareness Day on Nov. 20. Children’s Grief Awareness Day is designed to help people become more aware of the needs of grieving children — and of the benefits they obtain through the support of others. Children’s Grief Awareness Day seeks to bring attention to the fact that often support can make all the difference in the life of a grieving child.

Grief Reach is a partnership between the National Alliance for Grieving Children and the New York Life Foundation. The goal of this partnership is to provide funds to Children’s Bereavement Programs to expand the reach of their programs to include underserved youth populations (18 years and younger). The funds for these grants are generously provided by New York Life Foundation and the oversight and RFP process is managed by the National Alliance for Grieving Children. One hundred eleven Grief Reach grants totaling nearly $4 million have been awarded since the program’s inception in 2011.

— Kelly Kapaun is a publicist representing Hospice of Santa Barbara.