NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief to host a grief program

NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief will host a four-week, closed Family Grief Group starting on Jan. 29. There will be weekly sessions, each Tuesday through February 19, according to NEA Baptist.

The group is for both the parent or guardian and the children of the family. Participants will learn about grief and coping skills they can use. This program is free of charge and will be held at the NEA Baptist Center for Good Grief location at 1717 Executive Square in Jonesboro.

Participants can expect information, tips and conversations about grief and how to cope individually and as a family. This program is available to anyone in the community that has experienced a loss, regardless of the type of loss and time frame since a death. It will be led by licensed therapists specifically educated in grief counseling.

It annually costs about $300,000 to operate the center that opened in 2017. At some point officials plan to move the center onto the main, 85-acre NEA Baptist campus on U.S. 49 in northern Jonesboro.

The center was modeled after the Kemmons Wilson Family Center for Good Grief in Memphis that opened in 2005. People of all ages are welcome. Several of the rooms are setup as “play areas” with toys and other items for children. Children often express grief through play, according to information released. There are three such centers in the Memphis area, according to information released. NEA Baptist officials said this is the first grief center opened in Northeast Arkansas.