OCTOBER 2018 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 53
NO PARENT, CHILD OR SIBLING SHOULD HAVE TO GRIEVE ALONE
For almost 20 years...
COPE is helping parents and families living
with the loss of a child.
We offer bereaved families across Long Island:
Professionally facilitated group support sessions
Special healing workshops including
Art and Music Therapy, Writing, Meditation
Camp ErinⓇ NYC - a free summer weekend
to support kids in grief with a concurent parent retreat
And much more
Contact us to learn more and to join our network of support
www.copefoundation.org
(516) 832-COPE (2673)
COPING WITH DEATH
COPE FOUNDATION:
EASING PARENTS’ GRIEF
BY NICK FODERA
Jane Bell of Merrick tragically
lost her daughter, Jennifer, in 2009,
but like many parents who’ve had to
bury their children, she found comfort
through the COPE Foundation
(Connecting Our Paths Eternally).
The Roslyn-based nonprofit grief
organization is dedicated to supporting
families living with the loss
of a child. Jane, a COPE Foundation
board member, found support in her
meetings with other parents who had
experienced the same trauma.
“You realize that you thought that
this was the worst thing that could
ever happen, and it is, but these people
understand,” she says. “I wasn’t alone.”
Lillian Julien founded the organization
in 1996, four years after her
daughter, Michelle, passed, meeting
informally with other parents who’d
lost a child. They gathered in the
comfort and safety of each other’s
homes sharing their grief. The organization
grew, offering facilitated groups
and additional programs until officially
recognized as a nonprofit in 1999.
Today, the COPE Foundation serves
more than 1,000 families across Long
Island and New York City in 10 locations.
According to COPE’s Executive
Director Adam Rabinovitch, “We
have a whole suite of programs and
workshops which give family members
the tools to live and the tools to
grieve.”
Programs include healing workshops,
meditation, yoga, writing, art
and music therapy, along with Camp
Erin® NYC, a weekend bereavement
camp for children and adolescents
who’ve lost a loved one. The camp was
awarded the prestigious 2014 Roger
E. Joseph prize. Julien also won the
2016 Imagine Award for Leadership
Excellence.
For Julien herself, COPE’s work is
a fulfillment of a dream. After her
daughter passed she was inspired
to reach out and help other families
in grief so no parent or child had to
grieve alone. “When COPE first became
a nonprofit, the goal was to help
others with the healing tools that had
helped me on my own grief journey.
And in helping others, I helped myself,”
Julien said.
For more information about
the COPE Foundation, visit
copefoundation.org
The COPE Foundation’s annual COPE Walk raised $28,106 on Sept. 30.
The money will support the nonprofit’s mission to help parents who’ve
lost a child.
/www.copefoundation.org
