Past grantees

Prior to providing our own direct bereavement services, A Caring Hand, The Billy Esposito Foundation helped fund four other bereavement programs. This  allowed over 600 children to attend local bereavement programs. Recipients included: the World Trade Center Trauma and Bereavement Program, the Bereavement Center of Westchester, The Alcove Center for Grieving Children and Their Families, the Bereavement Center of Westchester, and the Hope Center. Together we all strive to provide a range of crisis counseling and educational services that are helping devastated children rebuild their lives.

In the past, the organization also responded to the global need of grieving children following the 2004 Tsunami and to help children in New Orleans following hurricane Katrina in 2005 with a contribution to Save the Children. The grant was restricted to helping rebuild the schools and educational system in Southeast Asia as a result of the destruction from the earthquake and tsunami. The grant also helped fund the “child-friendly” spaces in several camps in the more devastated areas, with activities for thousands of children between the ages of 3 and 12. Save the Children’s long-standing experience working in crisis situations has proven that children urgently need respite from the severe emotional stress of surviving trauma. “Child-friendly” centers provide psycho-social support and age-appropriate activities to engage children and help them cope in the aftermath of crises and disasters.