I have worn many hats in my life, but one that has touched me in a way no other could was as an intern and volunteer with a grief support program for children and families many years ago. It was something I hadn't thought much about in recent years being consumed with raising my own family and publishing Macaroni Kid, but when Joanna's Place reached out recently for help sharing their free programs with our readers I began to think more about my experience with incredible children and families who have experienced incredible loss. More than anything I was honored to be able to share a resource for families right here on the South Shore. 

Joanna’s Place was incorporated as a 5013c organization in 2008. They are based in Hingham and serving families from across the South Shore for the last 10 years. It was founded in loving memory of Joanna Mullin by Joanna's mom, Heather, and dad, Jerry, and is dedicated to promoting resilience in children who are facing some of life’s most stressful events by providing tools, support, and resources to heal, grow & strengthen families. Their Program Director, Maria Trozzi, was the co-founder and director of the nationally renowned Good Grief Program at Boston Medical Center and has decades of experience as a clinician, national expert and author supporting children and families as they face illness, death, and loss. 

Joanna's Place currently offers kids age six to eighteen and their parents or guardians free support through support groups, resiliency workshops, and consultations. Circle-G, one of their support groups, will be starting February 26th at the Lutheran House of Prayer in Hingham. It will run for eight weeks on Monday evenings and will help kids learn coping skills to use when facing stressful life events. It provides kids with the knowledge that they are not alone and meet other children who have experienced the death of a parent or sibling possibly for the first time. Circle-S, another support group, is designed for children who have a sibling with special needs. This program runs in Milton and they are expecting a new session to begin this spring. 

There will also be a Resiliency Workshop on March 29th at Hospice of the South Shore in Rockland. Resiliency Workshops are designed to help kids and their parents or caregivers fill their toolbox with strategies to develop resiliency skills, regardless of the illness their family is facing. And finally Talking Points are adult only time-sensitive, single-session consultations designed to give caregivers support when dealing with specific events that may cause stress. Previous Talking Point sessions have supported families around putting an animal to sleep, marital separation, deployment, and illness among other topics. All of the support and programming provided to local families by Joanna's Place is free of charge for families. 

For more information Joanna's Place or to register for programs, please call or email Mary Boyle: or 781-413-5141.


Macaroni Kid South Shore Boston is a free weekly newsletter and website focused on fun family events and information in 13 towns on Boston's South Shore. We gather together all kinds of local family events and activities each week and add useful information about classes, family-focused businesses, book and product reviews, recipes, crafts, school and camp guides and more. We proudly serve families in Hanover, Norwell, Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate, Hull, Marshfield, Duxbury, Pembroke, Whitman, Hanson, Rockland, and Abington!

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