Complex grief

On November 18, Hearts of Hope partnered with Cornerstone in Chandler, Arizona, as part of a day of service to help underserved folks in the community. Families and children came together to paint 100 hearts and write notes of gratitude and encouragement. The Cornerstone community was especially excited to provide an opportunity that young children…

Over the last few months, Hearts of Hope is proud to have hosted many events in support and honor of our veterans. This Veteran’s Day, we are thrilled to share more about these recent events with you. We are grateful for our veterans, their families, and the sacrifices they make for the good of all…

Last week, Hearts of Hope of Newtown, CT hosted a special Paint with a Purpose event to honor the memory of our friend, Russell Stiles. Russell was a member of the Ability Beyond community, an organization that offers services to more than 3,000 individuals with disabilities throughout Connecticut and New York. On October 25, we…

It’s difficult to be there for the people we love when they’re grieving. Nobody wants to say the wrong thing. When we don’t know what to do, many of us decide to do nothing at all. We think it’s better to avoid it entirely than to make a mistake. That is a major myth about…

You’ve probably heard of the five stages of grief. But did you know that they don’t represent the full complexity of grief? From pop culture to mass media, countless conversations about grief talk about navigating these five steps: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. But the reality of grief is far more complicated and nuanced than…

How long does it take to “get over” grief? Everyone who has gone through a loss knows that is an impossible question to answer. You might feel most of your grief before an ill grandparent dies, or the grief of being estranged from a parent might not hit you until years after the loss. There…

Kids today are in a mental health crisis. Over 40% of high school students experience signs of depression, and a third of adolescents struggle with anxiety. Many factors in a changing world are impacting young people’s mental health, but we often overlook how significantly kids are impacted by their parents and adult caregivers. The kids…

Life today is overwhelming, complicated, and changing too quickly to keep up with. The future of work is changing as questions about remote jobs, labor movements, and the use of advanced AI create a new economic landscape. Our planet is getting hotter, and natural disasters are more frequent. We don’t have enough housing. It’s hard…

Earlier this year, United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy advised that loneliness is a public health epidemic that causes lasting harm to physical and mental health. We are missing out on important social connections, and so are our kids.  “1 in 2 adults report measurable levels of loneliness, and the group that’s actually most lonely…

Last week, Hearts of Hope celebrated the end of summer and the 10th Anniversary of our Newtown Chapter with the fourth and final event in our Senior Paw Project Summer series. We teamed up with the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary to host a series of Paint with a Purpose events throughout the summer, where…