Doane House Hospice (DHH) has been a fixture in the community for over 30 years by providing palliative care supports to over 1,000 individuals each year. Our commitment to full circle support includes meeting the individual’s emotional, spiritual and physical needs. Our programs equip individuals with the ability to make the right decisions for their care by being able to navigate the healthcare system to access the right care at the right time, and by helping support family members through caregiver relief and bereavement services.

Katherine Valkanas is DHH’s part-time registered Art Therapist. Katherine works closely with children, youth and adults to help them express their grief and emotions through various forms of art. Katherine uses an interdisciplinary and creative process from the fields of art, psychology, and music to help clients share their hopes, dreams, struggles and losses.
The project we are seeking support for is the Doane House Hospice Children’s Grief Workshop Series. This specialized art therapy workshop will be offered for 3 days with 6 children per day during August 2021 (date to be determined). Our workshop will give children, aged 6 to 12 the opportunity to learn about, express, and understand their current grief.

Children will learn a variety of skills that will help them with remembering a loved one or adapting to a change in a relationship because of a recent loss. The main benefits to our workshop will be: learning coping skills that will help children to understand and express their emotions, and building connections with others so participants are able to seek support when needed, while feeling that they are not alone in their experiences.

Each workshop in the series will be free of charge and will feature a 3-hour session of art therapy-based activities that are age appropriate and interesting to the age ranges in attendance.