Local Health Partnership to Educate, Equip, and Honor on Children’s Grief Awareness Day

GREENSBURG, Pa., November, 6, 2025 … The Jamie Cordial Hall Foundation, Innersight LLC, Hartman-Graziano Funeral Home Inc., and Excela Health Home Care & Hospice at Independence Health System announced their annual November partnership in support of Children’s Grief Awareness Day taking place November 20. The partnership raises awareness and offers a free art activity to support grieving children within the community. This will be the fourth annual event in which these community partners have come together to recognize a day created to call attention to the prevalence of children’s grief and of the needs of those children who have had someone close to them pass away.

“This year, two sessions will be offered — one session for children that have come to the Children’s Grief Awareness Day Art Activity in past years, and one session for children who will be joining the program for the first time. The children that have been through the program enjoy being able to come back each year,” said Maria Graziano-Bickerstaff, funeral director, Hartman-Graziano Funeral Home Inc. “An additional day was included so that those familiar faces will continue to receive support and the new children, and their families will receive support on the additional night.”

The event will once again be hosted at the Latrobe Art Center. Children who have participated in the program in past years are invited to attend on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. Children who have not participated in the past are invited to attend on Thursday, November 20, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. Two different art projects will be offered. For the children new to the program, the project will teach the children the importance of gentle self-care and how to self-nurture while grieving the loss of a loved one. For the children who have participated previously, they will build upon what they have learned and focus on the process of containing and revisiting the memories of our loved ones.

“As time goes on, we can struggle with the memory of our loved ones, so we will create a container to house stories and unique personalized moments with our loved ones so we can revisit them as we need to,” said Kristy Walter, ATR-BC, LPC, Innersight LLC. “Children’s Grief Awareness Day is so important because it shows caregivers that even though we may not be able to make everything OK, we can support these children and create an environment in which we show them it is safe to ask questions about their loved one and continue to share stories about them.”

“We also hope to be a supportive presence to the adults who are caring for the children. We want to provide information and reassurance as they, most likely, have suffered a loss as well,” said Maureen Ceidro, Bereavement Counselor, Excela Health Home Care & Hospice at Independence Health System. “As Mr. Rogers said, ‘Anything that's human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable.’ Grief is human, and through programs like this, we hope to make it more manageable.”

Families interested in bringing their children to the annual event can register or ask any questions by calling Kristy at 724-374-3004 or emailing Kristyinnersight@gmail.com.

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Nationally recognized for quality care, Independence Health System comprises Butler Memorial, Clarion, Frick, Latrobe and Westmoreland Hospitals with a combined bed count of 925. With more than 1,000 physicians and advanced practice providers and nearly 7,000 employees, the System is the third largest in western Pennsylvania serving a population base of 750,000 in a footprint spanning more than 10 counties.

The System includes tertiary programs rated among America’s best for cardiac care and surgery, earning accolades from a number of prestigious outlets and organizations. Locally owned and locally controlled, Independence Health System offers its patients low-cost, high-quality care across the care spectrum in such specialties as cardiology, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, orthopedics and sports medicine, minimally invasive and robotic surgery, women’s health and obstetrics, emergency medicine, behavioral health and primary care. Its network of outpatient centers sees more than 1.2 million visits annually.