It all started in the summer of 1997 when four camp counselors at YMCA Camp Cosby were killed on their night off after a train collided with their car. The camp didn’t have bereavement resources and began to scramble to seek next steps amidst this tragedy. One of the camp counselors who was tragically killed was named Amelia Elliot. Amelia’s parents teamed up with Children’s of Alabama Pastoral Care to explore the idea of a grief resource center for bereaved children and parents. Twenty-seven years later, the impact is enormous; over 1,000 people receive bereavement care each year from The Amelia Center.
The Amelia Center is focused on providing three main services:
- Individual Counseling: Through the individual counseling program, counselors walk with children aged five and above who have lost a loved one. The program provides services to families free of charge and is tailored to each child. “Each person’s grief journey is unique, and we try to honor that,” said Matthew Bunt, M.Ed., LPC-S, a counselor at the Amelia Center. “We also know that grief is not time-limited, so we want to be here for the long haul. So as things come up down the road, the door is always open for them to return.” Counselors also see bereaved parents who have lost a child and are not limited to the parent’s age – they even see people in their 90s. Both a bereaved child and parent receive individual care to help walk through the different types of grief.
- Support Groups: Various support groups meet depending on need, but some ongoing groups include infant loss, family groups that include both the parent or caregiver and child, teen guys groups, and more. Activities like yoga, drum circles, movie groups and horse riding help process grief in an active way. “Really, anything that makes it okay to talk about the person who died helps,” said Matthew. These groups usually meet about once a month and come at no charge.
- Training and Education: The team of counselors will visit schools in and around Birmingham and train their faculty on steps to take in the event of a death of a student or faculty member. This is incredibly valuable for making schools aware of bereavement and the resources that are available in town.
The Amelia Center implements several ways to express confusing feelings of grief, like making memory boxes, playing in the sand tray, creating memory stones to place at their loved one’s grave, and even playing basketball to get them moving while sharing uncomfortable feelings of grief. “It opens the door for them to be able to process well when they might not be able to use their words,” said Matthew. Normalizing grief and knowing there are others feeling the same emotions is one of the most important parts of bereavement therapy.
It’s helpful for families to “turn the chapter” after the death of a loved one, and the Amelia Center is a wonderful resource to walk into the next chapter of life.
