Mercy Corps Launches Comfort for Kids to Help Grieving ChildrenMercy Corps International Partnership Formed to Help Children in Wake of Attack on US Helping children and families cope with the trauma of the September 11 tragedy is the focus of a new partnership between a team of US corporations and nonprofits. Mercy Corps launched "Comfort for Kids" in partnership with Bright Horizons Family Solutions, the Dougy Center and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. to provide support to the families of survivors, relief workers and others affected by the tragedy.  "The children and families in New York and Washington, DC have lived a real-life nightmare this week and they need our support," said Neal Keny-Guyer, Mercy Corps CEO. "This partnership will bring comfort, hope and vitally needed trauma counseling to those who need it most." Initially, Mercy Corps and its partners will focus on helping children cope with the trauma of the September 11 events by: Providing grief counseling materials to parents, teachers and other child care providers. Producing a grief counseling video to train childcare providers in schools, child care centers and other institutions in the special needs of children following a major trauma. Emergency expert Jim White, a veteran of Mercy Corps relief efforts in Kosovo and Chechnya, is being dispatched to New York to coordinate Mercy Corps' response. The program will initially focus on families in the New York and Washington, DC areas. The outreach will be expanded through partners' networks to other communities nationwide as resources become available, to meet the needs of children and families across the country who are experiencing loss and fear around these tragic events. Mercy Corps has also provided its website to serve as a resource tool, offering detailed information on counseling services, ways to help, disaster information and guidance for helping children cope -- as well as a special condolence section where visitors can leave their own expressions of grief and solidarity. Messages of compassion, sympathy, and tolerance from people and organizations in over 40 countries have been received and posted on the site. HOW TO HELP: Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided over $575 million in assistance to 73 nations. The agency's programs currently reach 5 million people in more than 25 countries, including the United States. Mercy Corps is a nonprofit organization with headquarters offices in Portland (Oregon), Seattle (Washington), Washington, DC, and Edinburgh, Scotland. Over 95 percent of the agency's resources are allocated directly to programs that help those in need. Based in Portland, Oregon, The Dougy Center (www.dougy.org) provides counseling for children coping with the grief associated with death. Each month, The Dougy Center provides grief support services to over 350 children and families. As a result of the Center's grief counseling training initiative, over 130 programs modeled on The Dougy Center have been developed throughout the US and overseas. Based in Massachusetts, Bright Horizons Family Solutions (www.brighthorizons.com) is one of the America's largest providers of work-site childcare, back-up care, early education, and worklife consulting services. Bright Horizons manages more than 340 Family Centers worldwide for more than 250 clients. With childcare centers in Europe and the Pacific Rim, Bright Horizons serves a wide array of international and multinational companies. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $713 billion and operations in more than 50 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, asset management, private equity, custody and transaction services, retail and middle market financial services, and e-finance. Headquartered in New York, JPMorgan Chase serves more than 30 million consumer customers and the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients.
For more information, or to contact Mercy Corps International, see their website at: www.mercycorps.org |
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