Creating Space for Grief, Healing, and Connection
The Risa Fund partners with the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing to help children and families navigate grief and strengthen the communities that support them.
Grieving Families Healing Together
A central focus of the partnership is Grieving Families Healing Together, a series of free creative workshops for bereaved children ages 5–17 and their families.
The 2026 workshops offer different ways to explore grief, remember loved ones, and connect with others through:
- Visual arts: Drawing, painting, and collage to express memories and emotions.
- Yoga and movement: Connecting with the body and practicing self-care during grief.
- Drumming and rhythm: Building connection and community through music.
- Nature-based activities: Exploring grief and loss through connections with nature.
- Theater and storytelling: Expressing emotions through creative performance and collaboration.
- Therapeutic movement: Using gentle movement to support emotional expression and connection.
JOIN A WORKSHOP
Grieving Families Healing Together offers free workshops for bereaved children ages 5-17 and their families. Families can participate in one or multiple free workshops, each offering a different way to explore grief, remember loved ones, and connect with others who understand their experiences.
Wendt Center Training Institute
The Risa Fund also supports the Wendt Center Training Institute, helping bring grief- and trauma-informed expertise into schools and organizations serving young people. Through training, coaching, and crisis-response support, the Wendt Center equips educators and other professionals to better support children experiencing loss and trauma.
Earlier Support for Grief Services
The partnership has also included support for specialized suicide-bereavement services. In 2020, the Risa Fund helped expand access to these services by supporting a clinician who facilitated grief support groups for people coping with the loss of a loved one to suicide.
Wendt Center for Loss and Healing
Since 1975, the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing has helped children, youth, adults, and families rebuild a sense of safety and hope after loss, illness, violence, and trauma. Through therapy, community-based programs, crisis response, and training, the Wendt Center works to make grief- and trauma-informed support accessible throughout the Greater Washington region.
https://wendtcenter.org/