We Support Our Bereaved.

Grief is the last act of love we have to give to those we have loved. Where there is deep grief, there was great love.

ASK's support for a family does not end when a child passes away. The ASK-sponsored Chaplain for the Hematology/Oncology Division at Children’s Hospital of Richmond very often has had the opportunity to develop a relationship with a child in treatment together with the child’s family from diagnosis on throughout subsequent medical care. When a child passes away, he continues to make himself available to support a grieving family, in the measure a family may choose.

At about one month from the time of a death, our chaplain coordinates with a family and members of the hospital team that cared for a child to arrange for a home visit. These visits prove to be occasions of rich, mutual sharing of memories as well as presenting an opportunity for family members to talk personally with their child’s care providers about anything relating to the child’s treatment and circumstances. Information is also given to the family to facilitate their access to professional bereavement care resources that are available in the area where they live. He maintains a current list of professional grief counselors who provide individual and family grief therapy.