SILVER2021

THE EMMAUS MINISTRY FOR GRIEVING PARENTS INC

Serving the spiritual needs of parents whose children of any age have died by any cause, no matter how long ago

Waltham, MA   |  www.emfgp.org

Mission

The mission of The Emmaus Ministry for Grieving Parents is two fold: (1) To spiritually support grieving parents in dealing with one of life's most challenging and horrific experiences--the death of a child of any age by any cause, no matter how long ago (2) To empower Catholic archdioceses and dioceses and their grieving parents to support other grieving parents by bringing this ministry to their local areas. Currently we offer our programs in cooperation with 12 Catholic archdioceses and dioceses throughout the United States, and in parishes in CT, RI, and AZ, in addition to County Kerry, Ireland. We often add new sites. See www.emfgp.org for our current locations.

Ruling year info

2012

Director

Ms. Diane S. Monaghan

Director

Mr. Charles P. Monaghan

Main address

194 Bishops Forest Drive

Waltham, MA 02452 USA

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Formerly known as

The Pieta Ministry

EIN

46-0590070

NTEE code info

Religion Related, Spiritual Development N.E.C. (X99)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990-N.

Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

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Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

The Emmaus Ministry for Grieving Parents

Of all the horrors life can thrust upon you, one of the most searing has to be the death of a child. A parent’s world changes forever and life is never the same again.

The Emmaus Ministry for Grieving Parents serves the spiritual needs of parents whose children of any age have died by any cause. It provides grieving parents with the opportunity to focus on their individual spiritual journeys and search for answers to questions like, “Where is God in my pain?” “Where is my child right now?” “How can my faith help me deal with this horrific situation?’

This is a Catholic ministry based on the rich teachings of the Catholic Church on life and death. However, parents of all religions (or no religion) are welcome. Our parents can be in any phase of their spiritual journeys, from the very devout to the very angry and questioning the existence of God.

Offering one-day and weekend retreats, monthly Scripture readings and coffee socials, brown bag lunch retreats, and parent-to-parent companioning, the Emmaus Ministry serves parents in various locations. See www.emfgp.org for all of our current locations. Check back periodically as we often add new locations.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Weekend Emmaus Ministry Spiritual Retreats give parents the opportunity to get away from everyday life for an entire weekend (Friday night to Sunday noon) to focus on their spiritual journeys after the death of their children... to focus on questions like "Where is my child right now? Will I ever see my child again? Where is God in my life right now? How can I have some good come out of this horrific situation?"

Very similar to One-Day Spiritual Retreats, the weekend version enables parents to relax between sessions, stroll the beautiful grounds, get to know each other better, privately speak to our Spiritual Leaders and progress on their spiritual journeys.

All are welcome.

Population(s) Served
Adults

Where we work

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Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

The Emmaus Ministry for Grieving Parents has two goals:

(1) To spiritually support all grieving parents in dealing with one of life's most challenging and horrific experience--the death of a child of any age by any cause.

(2) To empower and support grieving parents who want to bring this unique ministry to their local areas.

The strategies of The Emmaus Ministry for Grieving Parents in meeting its goals include the following:

(1) To spiritually support grieving parents by offering One-Day, and Weekend retreats, providing them with the opportunity to get away from the everyday distractions of life and focus on where they are in their spiritual journeys--and how God and their faith offer peace, hope, comfort, and love.

(2) To expand the types of programs we offer to include additional one-hour monthly meetings and Brown Bag Lunch retreats.

(3) To offer segmented programs focused on age of child at death.

(4) To support Catholic parishes and dioceses in introducing and maintaining this ministry in their local areas.

The Emmaus Ministry for Grieving Parents has an extremely motivated group of Emmaus Parent Companions who are committed to helping others, as they have been helped. They serve on retreat teams providing everything from individual companioning to parent witnessing to much-needed refreshments.

The Emmaus Ministry also has a dedicated group of spiritual leaders who, on an as-needed basis, provide prayer for all retreat participants and spiritual leadership at retreats.

We have begun an aggressive fundraising campaign to subsidize retreat expenses and provide scholarships to parents in need.

As of 2015, we have served more than 200 parents from 14 states multiple times through 20+ retreats. We average 8-10 people at our monthly meetings. And we are affiliated with urban ministries, several parishes, and the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, WV.

Unfortunately, every day of the year new parents experience the death of their children. For many of us, support groups, psychotherapy, medication, and other coping mechanisms are no help. Focusing on the fact that our children's lives have changed, not ended and that we will see them again because of the promise of eternal life does bring comfort. We need to make more parents, parishes, and dioceses aware of our programs and motivate them to introduce these programs on an ongoing basis to their local areas.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    Grieving parents participating in our spiritual retreats, whose children of any age have died by any cause, no matter how long ago

  • How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

    Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person),

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    Grieving parents are very vulnerable. Every so often, a parent will say something like, "I don't know why my child had to die. He wasn't a drug addict or a derelict." This is obviously very offensive to parents whose children were drug addicts or derelict. None of our children deserve to die. Jesus' mercy is showered on all of our children equally. Because of this feedback, in our Retreat Guidelines (read at the beginning of every retreat), we now ask parents to avoid using comments, such as these, that may deepen another parent's pain.

  • With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

    The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders,

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback,

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback,

Financials

THE EMMAUS MINISTRY FOR GRIEVING PARENTS INC
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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THE EMMAUS MINISTRY FOR GRIEVING PARENTS INC

Board of directors
as of 08/13/2021
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Charles Monaghan

Retired

David Convertino, OFM

Holy Name Province Development Office

Marie Puleo, MFIC

Missionary Franciscan Sisters, Franciscan Pilgrimage Program