INDIANAPOLIS — Grief is complicated.
The counselors at Brooke’s Place, an organization that helps kids and young adults process grief over the death of a loved one, have seen a lot of it.
“The need, not only for grief support but mental health support that is grief-informed, has really boomed, and we have a wait list right now for therapy services,” said Tara Ntumba, the organization's support group director.
Since 1999, Brooke's Place has been helping people ages 3 to 29, along with their parent or caregiver, walk through grief.
The pandemic has only increased the need, with many of the clients dealing with death of someone they loved because of COVID-19, often a parent.
"It just feels like COVID all week, in terms of the families I’ve been meeting with for support group programs, young parents who have died,” Ntumba said.
Last year, according to Ntumba, Brooke’s Place saw the number of families seeking help go down because of COVID. They were only able to offer virtual counseling and support groups from April to September, re-opening their doors last October.
This year, the need is on the upswing, and COVID is again a big factor.
“There are unique factors to having a person die by COVID,” said Ntumba. “It’s hard to carry the cultural conversations around COVID, while the reality is ‘My mom died and I saw her die,’ or ‘My dad died. I was there with him when he died from COVID and I watched that.'"
The message from counselors at Brooke’s Place is that grief is natural and differs for everyone, and COVID hasn’t changed that.
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