Local children's grief group says attendance has doubled during the pandemic

April 8th, 2022

Kate's Club participants enjoying one of the club's camps for children. (Courtesy of Kate's Club)

The loss of a loved one can be difficult to talk about, especially for children and young adults.

An estimated 200,000 kids have lost their primary caregiver because of the pandemic.

But even before the pandemic, an average of one out of twelve children have experienced the death of someone in their immediate family.

Lisa Aman is the executive director of Kate’s Club, an organization that connects young people dealing with grief.

She says one result of COVID-19 is it has removed the taboo and made it necessary for many more people to talk about death and grief. She says the group’s attendance nearly doubled between 2019 and 2021.

“The pandemic has opened up the conversation about death. It has traditionally been a very taboo topic in most of our cultures, particularly in the United States, and now we have to talk about it,” said Aman.

Aman joined “Morning Edition” to talk about how the pandemic has changed the way Kate’s Club operates and brought their work to the forefront.

Christopher Alston contributed to this report.