The StoryCorps Road to Resilience Project

“Road to Resilience is a project in partnership with the New York Life Foundation to record the stories of kids grieving the death of somebody who is important to them. It’s really meant to give them a space to talk about who they are and share their grief stories and grief journeys, and memories of the important person in their lives.”

— Perri Chinalai, StoryCorps

I had such a great discussion with Perri Chinalai of StoryCorps and Maria Collins of the New York Life Foundation for this episode. StoryCorps is a nonprofit based in New York, and basically, they bring people together – regular people like you and me – and have them talk with each other to record and preserve their stories and their life experiences. And when I say “preserve their stories,” I really mean just that – anyone’s recordings can be archived at the Library of Congress and available for generations to come.

I invited StoryCorps to talk with me for this episode because they have a special project right now to bring together grieving parents and their kids to talk about their loved ones, and their experiences of loss. New York Life – which has a longstanding and deep commitment to the field of children’s bereavement – partnered with StoryCorps on this project. I’m so happy they were able to join this discussion to talk about the Road to Resilience project, as well as many of the other projects they are partnering on, and the childhood bereavement resources available on their web site.

Some of the things we talked about include:

• What is the StoryCorps Road to Resilience project, and who are their current partners;

• What it means to families to be able to have these conversations with each other;

• How families near New York City, Houston, Portland, Louisville, Baltimore, and Traverse City, Michigan, can get involved with the first 6 organizations partnering on this project;

• The toolkit that StoryCorps will have available in Fall 2019 for additional organizations to utilize;

• The StoryCorps app that anyone can download to record their own stories;

• Tips for conducting a StoryCorps-style conversation in your own home;

• Why it is so important to New York Life to support the field of childhood bereavement;

• Additional bereavement resources that New York Life offers free of charge on their web site;

• The Coalition to Support Grieving Students and their Grief Sensitive Schools initiative; and

• Some results of the recent childhood bereavement study conducted by New York Life.

We also have a special treat for listeners: we get to listen to two of the StoryCorps Road to Resilience recordings, including the new animation just released this week in honor of Father’s Day. I think this project is fantastic, and I’m so happy to highlight what they are doing and how you can get involved.

I hope you enjoy my discussion with StoryCorps and the New York Life Foundation.

Links & resources for this episode

• StoryCorps

• Find StoryCorps Road to Resilience recordings and animations here

• These segments were produced by StoryCorps for the Road to Resilience Project, in partnership with the New York Life Foundation.

• New York Life Foundation

• achildingrief.com - Bereavement support resources from New York Life

• Coalition to Support Grieving Students

• National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement

• Alliance for Young Artists and Writers

• National Alliance for Grieving Children

• Judi’s House - Denver, Colorado

• The Dougy Center - Portland, Oregon

• Bo’s Place - Houston, Texas

• A Caring Hand - New York, New York

• Hosparus Health - Louisville, Kentucky

• Roberta’s House - Baltimore, Maryland

• Michael’s Place - Traverse City, Michigan

• The Tristesse Grief Center - Tulsa, Oklahoma

More links for listeners

• Download: Kids & Grief: What You Need to Know

• Article: I’m a Widowed Mom: Here Are My 3 Tips for COVID-19 Widows

• Book: Widowed Parents Unite: 52 Tips to Get Through the First Year, from One Widowed Parent to Another

Thank you sponsors & partners:

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