Michelle R. Washington MA, NCC, LPC

For 160 years, Children’s Home has been a place of care, safety, and hope for kids and families across Central Illinois. By joining the $160 for 160 campaign, your $160 helps support programs that nurture healing, stability, and the opportunity to thrive.

Generations of care are built by people showing up — staff, supporters, and our community. Your gift invests in the programs and people who stand with kids and families every day.

Honor the legacy. Celebrate the past. Help build what comes next.

Michelle Washington's fundraising page for Children's Home Association of Illinois CHAIL: A Legacy of Care - Building What Comes Next!

Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.
- Peter A. Levine

Treat yourself! 💛💙🧡💚

Let’s talk about it…

POV: You're the gift arriving for check-in! 🎄 Help us make this season merry and bright for every child and family in our care. 🌟 Sign up to fulfill a wish list today: https://wkf.ms/3IWkyJn

From David Kessler:

For so many, the holidays are a season of joy. But for those grieving can bring so much pain and sorrow.

The pressure to be fine, the bright lights, the parties, the empty chairs all add up. And if you’re carrying a loss, it can feel like no one sees the weight of it.

If this time of year feels especially heavy, you’re not alone. And you don’t have to figure it out by yourself.

I’m offering a free, three-week grief support series beginning Sunday, December 7. These sessions are open to anyone navigating grief this holiday season, whether your loss is recent or long ago.

You’ll learn gentle strategies for navigating family, expectations, and emotional overwhelm, honoring your loved one in ways that feel right to you, and finding a rhythm that makes space for both sorrow and rest.

You don’t need to speak, you don’t have to turn on your camera, and you’re welcome just as you are.

Live on Sundays, December 7, 14, and 21 at 2 p.m. CT. Replays will be available to all registered participants.

Register at https://www.davidkesslertraining.com/holiday-grief-support. We’ll email the Zoom link and replay each week.

Warmly,

David

Holiday Grief Support with David Kessler Join us this holiday season for FREE grief support to learn strategies to navigate the holidays, learn meaningful coping tools, and be with others who are grieving and truly "get it".

💜

As a grief expert and a bereaved person I don’t believe in closure.
We don’t “close the door” on the people we love.

Yet after the most devastating tragedies, the world still asks:
“Have you found closure?”

It creates the illusion that grief has an ending…
that there’s a moment when the pain disappears…
that love can be wrapped up neatly and put away.

But that’s not how grief works.
And it’s not how love works.

When well-meaning friends say they want us to “find closure,” what they really hope is that we find peace —
they just don’t have better language for it.

Peace is not closure.
Peace is learning to live with the loss without pretending the bond is over.

💜 Do you believe closure is a myth?

🌟 Thank you, Community Foundation of Central Illinois (CFCI)! 🌟

Children’s Home Association of Illinois is honored to receive a generous grant supporting our Behavioral Health Division. This investment strengthens trauma-informed therapy, crisis intervention, and school-based services for Medicaid-eligible youth across Peoria, Tazewell, and Woodford Counties.

With youth mental health needs rising, CFCI’s partnership helps us:
✔️ Prevent unnecessary hospitalizations
✔️ Reduce emergency room visits
✔️ Expand crisis response, assessments, and case management
✔️ Reach kids where they need us most

Because of this support, more young people will receive timely, year-round, community-based care—and families will stay connected to the wraparound services that promote stability and healing.

We are deeply grateful for CFCI’s commitment to improving youth mental health and building a stronger, more resilient Central Illinois. 💛🏡

🎙️📢

IJS 💙✨

❤️‍🩹

Reaching out is nothing to be ashamed of.
Tamr@