Grieving is hard, and no one should have to do it alone.
Uplift's programs include:
• Virtual Grief Groups: Uplift provides peer support groups for children ages 6-18 who have experienced the death of someone close to them in a private Zoom meeting room. Youth are divided into age-appropriate groups, which are facilitated by master's-level trained clinicians and volunteers. Uplift also offers concurrent caregiver support groups, and Come Together group
s for children in kindergarten through 2nd grade to attend with their caregivers.
• In-School Grief Groups: Uplift provides 6-week grief support groups for children enrolled at public, private, charter, and religious schools in the City of Philadelphia.
• Acute Community Loss Support: Following the death of a member of a school or community organization, Uplift can support youth, staff, and the larger community with age-appropriate activities, resources, and/or virtual acute loss support groups as needed. Additionally, Uplift can help create a plan in cases of terminal illness to help prepare a community for an anticipated death.
• The Philly HopeLine: A free, confidential helpline, the Philly HopeLine offers telephonic support for students and caregivers. Caregivers, counselors, and frontline professionals may also use the Philly HopeLine to refer families to services such as grief groups or drop-in programs. The Philly HopeLine is staffed by Uplift clinicians, who offer callers support after a death in their school community, a loss in their personal lives, or with the collective traumatic experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Uplift offers these services to professionals:
• Professional Development and Training: Uplift provides education on grief, bereavement, and trauma through school-wide professional development, training for clinicians, social workers, and counselors, and workshops for community members and caregivers. Our training sessions can be modified to be relevant for the role of attendees, as well as for the desired focus, such as survivors of homicide, suicide, or substance-related deaths.
07/19/2025
On Thursday, June 26, Uplift held a free Family Art Night at Public Health Management Corporation's space in The Provident Campus in West Philly. Thank you to our fifteen participants who joined us to make masks and do a balloon release (and a special thank you to Ms. Wortham for being our PHMC liaison for the evening!)
: Thank you to the Philly Goat Project for letting Uplift table at your Summer Grief Walk! We were glad to share this free program with Uplift's families and friends. Pictured from left to right: Mark Leeper, Naila Francis (This Hallowed Wilderness), Uplift clinician Teresa Méndez-Quigley, and Uplift intern Marquita Alston.
07/10/2025
appreciation to Action Karate Fairless Hills for their community give-back event supporting Uplift on Saturday, June 21. After outdoor karate lessons, Coach Cam involved all youth students in assembling care bags with snacks, books, and toys for Uplift's in-person youth grief groups. Thank you again to Action Karate's staff, students, and families for your generosity!
07/08/2025
Did you know that the Philly Goat Project holds free seasonal grief walks? This upcoming Sunday (July 13th) from 12-2 PM, meet Uplift’s clinicians for a program led by grief coach Naila Francis (This Hallowed Wilderness). Together with the PGP, we'll take part in a guided meditation, a thirty-minute walk through Awbury Arboretum's nature trails (with optional goat companionship), and and open sharing with light, cold refreshments. All are welcome to join, regardless of loss and regardless of time since the loss.
07/07/2025
Great news! We’re featured in Target Circle™. Show your support for Uplift Center for Grieving Children and vote for us in the Target app now through September 30. To vote:
Step 1: Choose ‘My Target’ in the Target app or ‘Account’ on Target.com
Step 2: Tap ‘Cast votes’
Step 3: Find us & vote
06/26/2025
Uplift Center for Grieving Children and our Philly HopeLine are closed from Friday, June 27 through Friday, July 4. Regular summer hours (Monday-Thursday, 9am - 5pm) will resume on Monday, July 7 as we begin our new program year. All messages to the Philly HopeLine and non-emergency messages to our main line (267-437-3123) will be returned on or after July 7.
If you or a loved one need emergent support during Uplift's closure, please visit upliftphilly.org/philly-hopeline.
06/18/2025
Uplift's office and our Philly HopeLine are closed on Thursday, June 19 in observance of Juneteenth. We will reopen on Monday, June 23, and will be open through Thursday, June 26.
For helpful resources, including a list of helplines and crisis lines, please visit upliftphilly.org/philly-hopeline.
06/10/2025
Uplift Center for Grieving Children and the Friends of Uplift are collecting art materials, books, snacks, toys, and other supplies to use during our free grief programs this summer! Visit upliftphilly.org/in-kind to view our registry, buy items, and ship orders directly to Uplift.
If you already own new or unused items in our registry, please email Kevin McGuire, Director of Development, at kevinm@upliftphilly.org to coordinate donation shipping, pick-up, or drop-off.
Youth process grief through play. All programs include creative activities, therapeutic storytelling, and games so that youth are encouraged to express their emotions in community with their peers. Other items on our registry, such as stuffed toys and snacks, can help youth feel settled and focused so they can fully participate.
Shop our registry today and help Uplift fulfill our supply drive by Monday, June 30: upliftphilly.org/in-kind
06/02/2025
This week, Uplift is headed to Kansas City for the NACG National Alliance for Children's Grief National Symposium on Children's Grief!
Executive Director Crystal Wortham, MSW, LCSW will be a panelist in NACG's 2025 Research & Evaluation Panel, themed "The Power of Research & Practice Partnerships." This discussion will share how researchers and practitioners collaborate to help move the childhood bereavement field forward through translational, community-based research, and will include practical examples of how to overcome barriers and how to form successful research-practice partnerships.
Senior Clinicians Samantha Anthony, MS, LPC and Sam Middleton, MS will present on "Childhood Grief in Context: Navigating Social Systems and Disenfranchised Grief." They will explore grief through a social systems lens, examining how justice, health, and cultural systems shape the grieving experiences of youth. Sama and Sam will also explore how social systems and grief influence disenfranchised grief, where individuals feel their grief is not acknowledged or supported.
05/29/2025
Thank you to all who joined Uplift Center for Grieving Children in celebrating our 25th anniversary at Hope In Bloom on Thursday, May 8 at Uptown Beer Garden.
Every donation counts, and because of the generosity of all sponsors, donors, and attendees, Uplift surpassed our initial fundraising goal of $20,000 and raised $21,300! These funds enable up to 20 youth to participate in six weeks of grief groups held in their schools and communities. With support from Uplift's team of Masters-level clinicians, these young participants will learn how to heal and grow through their grief in community with each other.
05/15/2025
The Uplift Center for Grieving Children is pleased to announce the appointment of Crystal M. Wortham as our new Executive Director.
Crystal is a licensed clinical social worker who has provided trauma-informed grief and mental health services to the youth, caregivers and families of Uplift for over 10 years. When she was promoted to Director of Clinical and Education Services in November 2022, Crystal exercised leadership by providing clinical supervision and guidance to staff, and ensuring adherence to best practices and professional standards.
Raised and educated in Philadelphia, Crystal received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychological and Social Sciences from The Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice. Crystal received Post-Masters certificates in Trauma and in Perinatal Grief through the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College, and has received additional certifications through the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in emergency behavioral health management and acute trauma response. She also works with Dr. Irwin Sandler, Dr. Liza Hita, and members of the REACH Insititute at Arizona State University to redefine and implement the Resilient Parenting for Bereaved Families program, where she is a certified leader and supervisor.
Crystal's leadership as Executive Director positions Uplift as a clinician-led nonprofit. The Board of Directors recognizes that for Uplift to effectively work with grieving youth, caregivers, and families, all programs and services must be informed by their needs and experiences. Uplift's Masters-level clinical team is our most valuable asset as advocates for all grief services participants and as the drivers of program innovation based on real-world experience.
The Board of Directors of Uplift is grateful to have Crystal in this executive leadership role. We hope you'll join us in congratulating her on this achievement, and we thank you for your continued support of our mission.
04/24/2025
We're two weeks away from Hope In Bloom, Uplift's happy hour fundraiser at Uptown Beer Garden! Join us in celebrating 25 years of providing free, trauma-informed, and healing-centered grief support in Philadelphia with drinks, snacks, and stories of impact.
All Hope In Bloom profits will build access to therapeutic grief services, from supporting caregiver stipends to funding a six-week grief group cycle for up to 20 youth and their caregivers. Buy tickets or become a donor or sponsor by visiting https://upliftphilly.ejoinme.org/tickets
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Contact The Practice
Send a message to Uplift Center for Grieving Children:
Uplift Center for Grieving Children helps children grieving a death heal and grow through their grief, while strengthening families, communities, and professionals’ understanding of how best to respond to their needs.
Our vision is to ensure that every child in the City of Philadelphia has access to free support after the death of a parent, sibling, or close loved one. Grieving is hard and no one should have to do it alone.
Our Services:
Family Services Grief Groups Uplift provides peer support groups for children, teens, young adults, and their caregivers who have experienced the death of someone close to them. Divided according to development and age, groups are facilitated by master’s-level trained clinicians and volunteers. While the children’s groups meet, we offer concurrent caregiver support groups. Groups meet in East Falls, West Philadelphia, Lower Northeast Philadelphia, and South Philadelphia.
In-School and Community Grief Groups Uplift recognizes there are barriers for families to get to grief groups at our main and satellite sites. In-School and Community grief groups function as mobile versions of our Family Services grief groups, allowing services to reach grieving children directly. Uplift provides 8-week grief groups for students in public, private, and charter schools across the City of Philadelphia as well as justice-involved youth programs and community organizations/groups.
Post-Crisis Intervention In the aftermath of the sudden death of a student or teacher, Uplift utilizes best practices to support school communities requesting assistance, often collaborating with the school district and other community organizations.
Trainings and Workshops Supporting grieving children can be difficult for many adults who work with youth. Through focused seminars and workshops, Uplift provides professionals and caregivers with the knowledge and tools needed to understand and respond to children’s grief.
