The Compassionate Friends East Chapter of

The Greater Cincinnati Area

A non-denominational self-help support organization for families who

have experienced the death of a child, at any age, from any cause.

The death of a child of any age, from any cause, is a shattering experience for a family.  When a child dies, where does a family turn for the emotional support they will need during the grief journey that lies ahead?

The Cincinnati-East Chapter of The Compassionate Friends as been helping families deal with their grief following the death of a child.

The Compassionate Friends

The Compassionate Friends is a national nonprofit, self-help support organization that offers friendship and understanding to bereaved parents, grandparents and siblings.  There is no religious affiliation and there are no membership dues or fees.  TCF depends entirely on voluntary contributions from individuals and organizations to meet its expenses.  All donations are tax-exempt.

Support Group Meetings

The Cincinnati-East Chapter meets on the fourth Tuesday each month at St. Timothy Episcopal Church, 8101 Beechmont Avenue.  These gatherings provide a caring environment in which bereaved parents and adult siblings can talk freely about the emotions and experiences they are going through; and receive the understanding support of others who have "been there".  Through the years, the hope provided through these sharing sessions has been more helpful than anything else in resolving bereaved parents' grief.  Grandparents and other adult family members are also welcome at our meetings.

Lending Library

A lending library of books is available at each meeting.  Members may browse the library and check out materials for home reading.

Steering Committee

The Cincinnati-East Chapter follows guidelines set out by TCF national group.  A Steering Committee, made up of a few dedicated members, directs the programs of our local chapter.  Our chapter also maintains a list of "phone friends", members who have "been there" and may be called at any time a bereaved parent needs someone to talk to.

Quarterly Newsletter

Our newsletter announces TCF activities and includes articles which may be helpful to families grieving the death of a child.  We also encourage bereaved parents and siblings to submit poems, articles and writings.  Mailed to all chapter members and to other interested individuals free of charge, each issue reaches approximately 150 households in the Greater Cincinnati area.

Information and Education

Part of our mission is to promote better understanding of parental and sibling grief.  Examples of this effort include:

• Distributing informational material to professionals in hospitals, hospices, funeral homes and churches, as well as other concerned individuals.

• Providing speakers to lay groups interested in learning how to be more supportive of families who have experienced the death of a child.

• Sponsoring professional speakers and grief counselors for chapter meetings.

• Encouraging chapter members to attend national and regional conferences of TCF.

Memorial Events

In the spring each year, family members gather for a balloon release.  Poems, writings and notes are attached to the "tail" of the balloon which are released en masse to memorialize our children.

Our Chapter's annual Candlelight Remembrance Program is held the third Tuesday in December.

The TCF Worldwide Candle lighting Event is held on the second Sunday in December.  All family members are encouraged to participate by lighting a candle at 7:00 p.m. (local time) in memory of our deceased children.

The Compassionate Friends Credo

We need not walk alone.

We are The Compassionate Friends.

We reach out to each other with love, with understanding and with hope.

Our children have died at all ages and from many different causes, but our love for our children unites us.

Your pain becomes my pain just as your hope becomes my hope.

We come together from all walks of life, from many different circumstances.

We are a unique family because we represent many races and creeds.  We are young, and we are old.

Some of us are far along in our grief, but others still feel a grief so fresh and so intensely painful that we feel helpless and see no hope.

Some of us have found our faith to be a source of strength; some of us are struggling to find answers.

Some of us are angry, filled with guilt or in deep depression; others radiate an inner peace.

But whatever pain we bring to this gathering of The Compassionate Friends, it is pain we will share just as we share with each other our love for our children.

We are all seeking and struggling to build a future for ourselves, but we are committed to building a future together as we reach out to each other in love and share the pain as well as the joy, share the anger as well as the peace, share the faith as well as the doubts and help each other to grieve as well as to grow.

WE NEED NOT WALK ALONE ~ WE ARE THE COMPASSIONATE FRIENDS.