We are THREE

This week we at A Haven will be celebrating the third anniversary of making it official and receiving our 501c3 status. 

For us, like all of you, this past year didn’t look quite like we expected. We leaned hard into one of the lessons we have learned from grieving families and did our best to keep moving forward and meeting each day with hope. 

As a young nonprofit, the level of uncertainty that the past year brought was scary. One thing that we knew with absolute certainty was that now more than ever, families would need A Haven. They would need us to be available, to be ready, to be equipped to journey with them through grief. 

And for them, we sustained. 

When we could not gather in person, we pivoted to virtual groups and held the space for returning families and welcomed new ones. 

We realized that some families were continuing to struggle in isolation, and we added an in person support option to meet their needs while maintaining everyone’s health and safety. 

We realized that our grieving teens needed to be together in the same space, and we found a way to host them safely outdoors and, eventually as the days grew shorter and colder, back into our Exton home. 

We watched as parents and caregivers stayed attuned to their grieving children during virtual groups and realized that the grown ups needed a space all their own. We added an adult only virtual group. 

We stayed in touch with local school counselors and teachers as they connected with their students remotely. As the grief in their school communities started to spill out of the screens, we hit the ground running with virtual school groups. 

We turned to the community for support as we continued to grow, and with grateful hearts we watched as our base of supporters grew right along with our needs. 

I remember saying “See you Monday!” to Michelle as I left the office last year on Thursday March 12th, not having any idea of the full scale of all that the pandemic was about to change. That memory feels like a lifetime ago. In the context of all that has happened since then, our team knows what a gift it is to have grown another year older and wiser during this time of hardship and uncertainty.

As we move into this next year of our story, we have many hopes and dreams of growth for our organization and our families...but perhaps we’ve already gotten the very best birthday gift of all - knowing now that whatever being three will bring us or any of you, we are here with you and we are ready.  

Happy to be T H R E E, 

A Haven

Written by Kate Lannan, Community Services Director