Our Mission

The mission of The Compassionate Friends is to assist families toward the positive resolution of grief following the death of a child of any age and to provide information to help others be supportive.

Our Objective

“The Compassionate Friends is about transforming the pain of grief into the elixir of hope. It takes people out of the isolation society imposes on the bereaved and lets them express their grief naturally. With the shedding of tears, healing comes. And the newly bereaved get to see people who have survived and are learning to live and love again.”

- Simon Stephens, founder of The Compassionate Friends

The words of TCF’s Founder, Simon Stephens resonate with those who have come to The Compassionate Friends hoping to find a purpose in a life that suddenly seems so empty.

Whether your family has had a child die (at any age from any cause) or you are trying to help those who have gone through this life altering experience, The Compassionate Friends exists to provide friendship, understanding, and hope to those going through the natural grieving process.

Through a network of more than 625 chapters with locations in all 50 states, as well as Washington DC and Puerto Rico, The Compassionate Friends has been supporting bereaved families after the death of a child for over four decades.

Our Credo

We need not walk alone. We are The Compassionate Friends. 

We reach out to each other with love, with understanding and with hope.
Our children have died at all ages and from many different causes, 
but our love for our children unites us.
Your pain becomes my pain just as your hope becomes my hope. 
We come together from all walks of life, from many different circumstances.
We are a unique family because we represent many races and creeds. 
We are young, and we are old. 
Some of us are far along in our grief, but others still feel a grief so fresh
and so intensely painful that we feel helpless and see no hope. 
Some of us have found our faith to be a source of strength;
some of us are struggling to find answers. 
Some of us are angry, filled with guilt or in deep depression; 
others radiate an inner peace. 
But whatever pain we bring to this gathering of The Compassionate Friends, 
it is pain we will share just as we share with each other our love for our children.
 We are all seeking and struggling to build a future for ourselves,
but we are committed to building that future together 
as we reach out to each other in love and
share the pain as well as the joy, share the anger as well as the peace,
share the faith as well as the doubts and help each other to grieve as well as to grow. 

We need not walk alone. We Are The Compassionate Friends

Grief support after the death of a child