Good Grief builds resilience in children, strengthens families and empowers communities to grow from loss and adversity.
“Good grief helped my kids realize they were not the only kids who lost a parent and that they were not alone in their grief… Walking through the doors of Good Grief felt safe and inviting despite the very sad circumstances that brought us there.”
Good Grief Mom, Alyson Leloia PT, DPT
Who We Are
Childhood bereavement affects every demographic and brings with it risks to mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Recognizing that children who have lost a parent or sibling often grieve alone and suffer the stigma of death, a community resource that promotes resiliency and strong social bonds was urgently needed. This is why Good Grief was founded in 2004 and has grown stronger ever since. Good Grief cares for children throughout New Jersey by creating a safe and nurturing environment to grieve while maintaining meaningful ties to their person who died through our two Family Centers – Morristown and Princeton.
Our centers are free to our families helping to remove one of the many barriers to accessing bereavement care.
Recognizing that kids need support beyond our center walls and face many adversities beyond experiencing the death of someone close, Good Grief Schools was born. This program was developed specifically to create a healthy and supportive environment for students, educators, and parents, comprising of a SEL curriculum, grief groups, and teacher and parent education. The professional development training for teachers serves as the backbone of our trainings for professionals outside of the school systems.
Good Grief enhanced our school offerings when Gov. Murphy signed the Grief Bill into law mandating that all public schools offer grief training and support for grades 8-12. Good Grief has built out training and curriculum to assist the schools in meeting this requirement.
History of Good Grief
2004
Good Grief started with a group of concerned volunteers doing advocacy and education
2007
Nights of Support peer support programs started in a church basement in Summit NJ
2011
Moved to our current Morristown Family Center
2012
Expanded to Princeton with a second family support center
2017
Routes To Resilience research-based SEL curriculum was created
2020
We built out what is now known as Good Grief Schools, equipped with Grief Groups, Professional Development, and Parent Education
2024
NJ Grief Bill was signed into law; Began partnerships with Multiple NJ4S Hubs to support schools, Trained 180 Newark Health and PE Administrators on grief and loss
Staff
Christian Heiss
Executive Director
Email: chris@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 x2005
Joanna Green
Director of Development
Email: joanna@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 x2010
Evelynn Moon
Director of Learning & Content Strategy
Email: evelynn@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 x2013
Pam Sullivan
Head of Family Centers
Email: pam@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2007
Kim Burrows
Sr. Program Manager
Email: kim@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 x2004
Lynne DeLade
Media & Design Manager
Email: lynne@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2003
Gina Kornfeind
Community Outreach & Training Manager
Email: gina@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999
Ariana Locascio
Sr. Family Services Manager
Email: ariana@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 x2012
Christine Morlino
Development Manager
Email: christine@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2011
Annette Mendez
Training & Curriculum Manager
Email: annette@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2002
Mrittika Sen, Ph.D.
Head of Research & Evaluation
Email: msen@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2015
Christina Verdesca
Program Manager, Princeton
Email: cverdesca@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2008
Marion Wells
Family Service Coordinator, Princeton
Email: marion@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 x2006
Special Thanks to our 200+ Nights of Support Volunteer Facilitators
Board of Directors
Each member of Good Grief’s Board of Directors commits to funding our organization each year by making a personal contribution significant to them. As such, we also consider our board members as individual donors. Therefore, we do not share their personal contact information.
All Directors can be reached by contacting them at Good Grief’s main address: 38 Elm Street, Morristown, NJ, 07960.
Thank You.
2024 Board of Directors
Guy Langford
Chair
Partner, M&A Transaction Services, Deloitte
Dr. Jody Stowe, Pharm D
Vice-Chair
with two decades of experience in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Paul Rosica
Treasurer
Former Managing Director and Head of Corporate Sales & Structuring, BMO Capital Markets
Jean Frydman, Esq.
Secretary
Associate General Counsel, Aquestive Therapeutics
Andrew Dinnhaupt
Portfolio Manager/Research Analyst Global Financial Services, Franklin Mutual Advisers, LLC
Conor Dolan
Commercial Real Estate Advisor, CBRE
Ginine Cilenti
Executive Director, Diabetes Foundation
Sarah Levin Goodstine
Counselor, Mental Health Association of Essex and Morris
Alex Shahidi
Partner, Strategy and Transactions, Ernst and Young
Simone Sloan
Leadership Executive and Coach, Your Choice Coach
Alain Van Loo
Founder, Assetive
Reverend Samuel Yenn-Batah
Director of Spiritual Care and Wellbeing, Penn Medicine Princeton Health