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January 30, 2017 - By: Danbury-Seniors
The Danbury Commission on Aging met on December 13, 2016 and welcomed guest speaker Joanna DeNicola, MPS, MSW, LCSW, Program Manager at Healing Hearts Center for Grief & Loss, a program of Regional Hospice and Palliative Care. The following information was compiled by the Commission on Aging for posting on this website.
Ms DeNicola was guest speaker at the December 2016 meeting of the Danbury Commission on Aging.
Her presentation was about grief support programs at Healing Hearts.
Key points of her presentation:
- Healing Hearts was founded in 1995 as part of Regional Hospice.
It offers grief support and bereavement services to anyone in the community at no cost.
No-cost services benefit those who lose income because of time away from work,
when they become full- or part-time care givers.
Healing Hearts is funded 100% by donations & grants. - Their goal is to form connections and support; to break down isolation that grief brings.
- Staff is trained volunteers—not clinicians—supervised by J. DeNicola.
- They do not provide counseling. For people with clinical depression,
Healing Hearts will connect them to appropriate therapy. - Almost 75% of Healing Hearts clients have had no contact with hospice.
- Healing Hearts conducts special need bereavement groups.
For adults: Loss of spouse, loss of a child, infant loss, loss from a suicide, loss of grandchild,
and general loss (death of parent, sibling, other relative or friend).
For children: Loss of parent or sibling, loss of grandparent—because “little kids have big worries.” - Process starts with an intake meeting to determine if Healing Hearts is right for the applicant,
to decide what group to place the applicant in, and to get support & guidance for the next steps.
Healing Hearts Center is located at 30 Milestone Rd. Danbury, CT 06810
Telephone 203-702-9152
The Danbury Commission on Aging meets on the 2nd Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at 1:00 p.m. at Danbury City Hall. The meetings are open to all Danbury residents.