THE EMMAUS MINISTRY FOR GRIEVING PARENTS INC
Serving the spiritual needs of grieving parents whose children of any age have died by any cause, no matter how long ago
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
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 is 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, no matter how long ago. It provides grieving parents with the opportunity to focus on their individual spiritual journeys: where God is in their lives today--and where their children are.
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. Parents often come back for multiple retreats.
Offering virtual and in-person half-hour, one-hour, one-day, and weekend retreats, the Emmaus Ministry serves parents in various locations all over the United States. See www.emfgp.org for all of our current sites. Check back periodically as we often add new locations.
Weekend Emmaus Ministry Spiritual Retreats
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.
Emmaus Ministry for Grieving Parents
In-person and virtual spiritual retreats for parents whose children of any age have died by any cause.
Where we work
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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
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.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
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.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
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.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
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
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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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
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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
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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THE EMMAUS MINISTRY FOR GRIEVING PARENTS INC
Board of directorsas of 02/06/2024
Charles Monaghan
Retired
David Convertino, OFM
Holy Name Province Development Office
Marie Puleo, MFIC
Missionary Franciscan Sisters, Franciscan Pilgrimage Program