With the help of a grant from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, bereavement counselors from Bluegrass Care Navigators (BCN) will be visiting 10 schools in counties affected by the flood from now through the end of 2022. During their visit, BCN’s bereavement counselors will read books about grief to classrooms, donate books to the school library and do a grief art activity at each school visit.

The Eastern Kentucky team identified a few schools in each of the Hazard and Pikeville service areas. However, after reaching out to schools, the team received an overwhelmingly positive response and decided to expand the project.
 
“I am so grateful for the ways my team serves the Eastern Kentucky region every day, but especially with this project at this time of year,” Pam Dixon (MSW, CSW), Regional Counseling Supervisor, said. “Our area was devastated by the floods, but my team is helping these children and their families process this tragedy and build back emotionally. We can’t erase what has happened, but we can help these children find hope.”
 
On November 16, Susan Houston (LCSW), bereavement counselor, and Samantha Craft (LCSW) and Anneke Walker (MSW), both social workers, visited Marie Roberts Elementary in Breathitt County. Throughout the day, they met with grades K-6 for an hour each to talk about feelings, find ways to cope, and learn healthy ways to express those feelings.

To help facilitate the conversation, Houston’s team read In My Heart A Book of Feelings that explores the full range of emotions within the body and gives readers ways to articulate those. When the BCN team gave space to express feelings, the children named sadness, happiness, anger, confusion, devastation, gratitude and guilt.

When it was difficult to use words, the children were invited to draw their feelings. Each child had lost something, whether pets, houses or loved ones. For some, it was the first time they had talked about their experiences in the aftermath of the flood.

“It always amazes me that kids get it and they so openly shared,” Houston said. “These children are very resilient, and we ended our time together with laughter.”

Each child also created a mandala using coffee filters, markers and water. Each child traced a pattern on a coffee filter with washable markers and spritzed it with water. As the colors bled into each other, it created a kaleidoscope. While these projects dried, the team read There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon, which talks about the importance of expressing your feelings and noticing other’s feelings.

Despite the devastating loss, one of the emotions the children expressed was hope.

“They got it, but they couldn’t express what hope meant very easily,” Houston said. “But one little boy, very low, put it this way when he said, ‘I have the hope that we’ll get a house and not have to have to continue to live in an apartment.’”

“In Eastern Kentucky, our counseling team is working to support so many children impacted by both the pandemic and this year’s flooding,” Liz Fowler, President and CEO of Bluegrass Care Navigators, said. “With the support of a grant from the Foundation for Healthy Kentucky, our team is partnering with local schools to provide education, therapeutic and fun activities for children across the region who have lost so much through COVID and flooding. Thank you to our Eastern Kentucky team and our counselors across the communities we serve who are honoring Kentucky kids and supporting families every day as they live with grief and loss.”
 
Children’s Grief Awareness Day is held annually on the third Thursday of November. This day is designed to help us all become more aware of the needs of grieving children — and of the benefits they obtain through the support of others.

In this podcast, Samantha Craft, LCSW, and Susan Houston, Bereavement Counselor and LCSW, both out of the Hazard office, shared the work they are doing to help children affected by the recent flooding in Eastern Kentucky. During their visits, BCN’s bereavement counselors read books about grief to classrooms, donate books to the school library and do a grief art activity.

Listen to the podcast: