Rick Thorpe — a loved husband, father, brother and son — died in Tower Two of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. In his memory, Rick’s Place was opened as a not-for-profit to provide grief support to grieving children and their families.
Rick’s Place supports children, teens (5-18 yrs.) and their families after a loved one has died. Through facilitated peer support groups, Rick’s Place offers grieving children and their caregivers a safe place to remember their loved ones, honor their memories, and avoid the sense of isolation that such a loss can produce.
At Rick’s Place, we know that grief is a natural expression of love for the person who has died. We do not try to make grief go away, but rather, children and families support one another on the path to healing during one of life’s most difficult experiences. Together, families learn to live on while living without.
Our free grief support groups provide safe and respectful experiences for children and their families to begin to integrate their loss in healthy and meaningful ways and to feel less alone on their grief journey.
An adult must accompany all youth who participate at Rick’s Place. Any young person who is grieving, and their adult caregiver(s), is welcome at Rick’s Place, regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, ability or sexual orientation.
Rick’s Place is…
- A place for laughter
- A place for sadness
- A place to remember those who have died
- A peer group support program for children and their families
- An educational program about how children grieve
Rick’s Place was founded as a new initiative of the Rick Thorpe Memorial Fund in 2007. Inspired by the desire to honor the memory of Rick Thorpe, a young father and Wilbraham, Massachusetts native who died in the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11, the Rick’s Place site was opened in March of 2007.
