About Good Grief

Good Grief builds resilience in children, strengthens families and empowers communities to grow from loss and adversity.

Mom and kids

“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

Chris Heiss

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

Default profile image

Kim Burrows

Sr. Program Manager
Email: kim@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 x2004

Default profile image

Lynne DeLade

Media & Design Manager
Email: lynne@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2003

Gina Kornfeind

Gina Kornfeind

Community Outreach & Training Manager
Email: gina@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999

Ariana Locascio

Ariana Locascio

Sr. Family Services Manager
Email: ariana@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 x2012

Christine Zinckgraf

Christine Morlino

Development Manager
Email: christine@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2011

Annette Mendez

Annette Mendez

Training & Curriculum Manager
Email: annette@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2002

Mrittika Sen, Ph.D.

Mrittika Sen, Ph.D.

Head of Research & Evaluation
Email: msen@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2015

Christina Verdesca

Christina Verdesca

Program Manager, Princeton
Email: cverdesca@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2008

Marion Wells

Marion Wells

Family Service Coordinator, Princeton
Email: marion@good-grief.org
Phone: 908.522.1999 x2006

200 Nights of Support Volunteer Facilitators

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