Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Kroenke.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
The journey to the creation of The Grief Club of Minnesota began for Cara and me when we were children as we both experienced the deaths of significant family members, Cara’s dad and my mom died when we were teenagers. Given the untimely deaths of our parents and other important people in our life we recognized and understood the multifaceted emotions that are felt when a family member dies. Our grief journey’s inspired our professional careers of becoming licensed social workers in the field of end of life care and bereavement with a special emphasis on supporting grieving children and teens. I am proud to share that we have dedicated our combined 45+ years in our professional careers as hospice social workers, school grief counselors, mental health crisis and trauma responders, authors, local and national speakers on childhood bereavement, co-owners of a private grief therapy practice and co-founders of The Grief Club. Throughout our extensive careers we have witnessed the need for whole family grief care so that families can process their pain and heal together all in the same location. Cara and I have had a shared passion to provide a safe place of support, compassion, education and hope to grieving kids and their families weeks, months, and even years after their loved one’s death. For many years we have wanted a place in Minnesota where we could bring together families with shared experiences to help them feel less alone in their pain. Because of this passion we have visited dozens of grief centers throughout the country and developed wonderful working relationships with them. During our visits and follow-up communications with nationwide executive directors we often received feedback that they were surprised that Minnesota did not have a grief center with our mission and philosophy of care, especially given the number of respected healthcare organizations, large corporations and the philanthropic status of our state. Although we officially became a nonprofit in 2020 we have been actively working on the necessary steps to become a respected grief center in Minnesota for many years. It was important to us to be strategic in our planning to ensure that The Grief Club would be sustainable for many years to come.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Grief Club of Minnesota?
The mission of The Grief Club of Minnesota is to provide a place where grieving children, teens, young adults, and their parents/caregivers find connections, share their experiences, and heal.
For many reasons, our nonprofit strives to limit the barriers for grieving children and their families. Therefore, we offer access to licensed mental health counselors, all in the same location and at no-cost to those who receive the services. Our counselors provide individual and family counseling, as well as, age-based and death specific support groups. Services are accessible to children, teens, and young adults up to the age 25 that have experienced the death of a parent, guardian, sibling, or close friend. Additionally, services are available to adults who have experienced the death of a child, or spouse and they have children under the age of 25 years old. Services are available year-round and are conducted in our new, beautiful facility that The Grief Club of Minnesota owns in Chanhassen, MN. The larger and peaceful facility was necessary as we outgrew our previous office space due to the high demand for services. We currently have multiple
families who are driving nearly two hours to receive our services in person. With that noted, The Grief Club has the ability to also serve clients virtually throughout the state of Minnesota.
The Grief Club of Minnesota believes that grieving children and teens are more likely to reach and utilize their full potential as they transition into adulthood by receiving effective therapeutic grief services and community connections. Whole family grief care can strengthen a family’s performance, functioning, and communication, and therefore, The Grief Club supports the entire family unit. Every person’s grief is unique and therefore their needs for processing are unique. The Grief Club offers multiple modalities of grief expression through art, music, play, yoga, mediation, and verbal communication to enhance the healing. Preventative services that address childhood and teenage grief have the potential to significantly reduce the risk for psychological and behavioral health problems, including increased rates of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and truancy. Investing in our children and teens will help them build the coping skills needed to adjust to a death, and enable them to handle future challenges and make contributions toward building healthier and safer communities.
The Grief Club of Minnesota is financially supported through grants, sponsorships and donations.
What matters most to you?
It matters deeply to me that clients at The Grief Club know that we genuinely care about their hurting hearts and mental well-being. It is important to me that those who are grieving receive high-quality, high-compassion care and feel like they have a place where they belong, a place where they are understood and not judged. I, wholeheartedly, believe that it is a privilege to do the work that I do. To be trusted by people at what is for many the saddest, most vulnerable time in their life is something that I do not take for granted. Grief can be isolating. It matters to me that people feel supported in the darkest of times and know that there is always hope.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.griefclubmn.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/griefclubmn/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/griefclubmn/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLe3m_X4XsFXpVoJsdHxWVA
