The Children's Room

What The Children's Room does

The Children's Room (TCR) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered at 1210 Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington, Massachusetts, founded in 1996 by Phyllis Silverman, PhD, to deliver free-of-charge grief support services to children, teens, and families experiencing a death loss. Its service portfolio comprises center-based peer support groups at the Arlington facility — including a teen program with an Alumni Resiliency Panel, the Parenting While Grieving Series, Family Nights, the newly launched TOTS Only weekend program for pre-K/Kindergarten families, and adult consultations — alongside a school- and community-based outreach program operated under a formalized 'Pathway to Partnership' framework, fee-bearing Training for Professionals workshops with Continuing Education Credits, an academic internship pipeline, and a volunteer facilitator pathway. Distribution is hybrid: a physical center plus K-12 and community partnerships (notably a district-wide engagement with Boston Public Schools that trained 80+ social workers in February 2025, and a March 2025 parenting-support partnership with Boston Children's Hospital), supplemented by a WooCommerce/Stripe online store and Blackbaud eTapestry-managed donation/newsletter forms.

The technology foundation is conventional nonprofit stack rather than proprietary platform: WordPress on WP Engine with CloudFlare CDN, Blackbaud eTapestry for CRM and donation workflows, WooCommerce and Stripe for ecommerce, and a marketing layer including Google Analytics, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Kameleoon experimentation, and Facebook/AdRoll/LinkedIn Insight tags. TCR's business model is philanthropy-led: approximately 99% of its $1.9 million annual budget is funded by charitable giving, with ~70% from individual donors and the remainder from foundation grants (e.g., the 2019 Cummings Foundation Sustaining Pledge), corporate sponsors, and planned/legacy gifts; ancillary revenue comes from paid professional training and merchandise. All grief support services to families are provided at no charge, and the customer base is diversified across individual families across 80+ Massachusetts communities, K-12 school districts, healthcare partners, and educator/clinical training attendees.

Name

The Children's Room

Legal name

The Children's Room

Website

https://childrensroom.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Children's Room is a Massachusetts-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 1996, that provides free grief support services to children, teens, and families through its Arlington center and statewide school and community partnerships, with about 99% of its $1.9M annual budget funded by philanthropy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Grief Support and Bereavement Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Child and Youth Services (624110)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Bereavement, Grief & Family Support Services (Hospice-Linked) (HLAFAEAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

Family & Parent Support Services (Parent Coaching, Advocacy) (EDAJALAK)

Keywords

• Grief support services
• Bereavement counseling
• Peer support groups
• Children's bereavement
• Professional grief training

Headquarters

HQ city

Arlington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual donations and philanthropy: About 70% of funding comes from individual donors; all family services are offered free of charge. Donations are collected via embedded Blackbaud eTapestry donation form on the website.
2. Foundation grants and corporate sponsorships: Grants from foundations such as the Cummings Foundation (2019 Sustaining Pledge) and corporate/foundation partners like the Highland Street Foundation (which funded a teen Bruins Night). 99% of the $1.9M annual budget is funded by philanthropy.
3. Tribute, memorial, and planned giving: Donor-advised funds, tribute and memorial gifts, gifts of stock, planned giving, and endowment gifts are accepted. Wish list of in-kind items also published.
4. Professional training and workshop fees: Fee-based workshops and trainings for professionals (educators, social workers, counselors) with Continuing Education Credits available; some workshops have been free community events.
5. Online store merchandise sales: WooCommerce-based online storefront selling merchandise; payments processed via Stripe.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The Children's Room provides free-of-charge grief support services for grieving children, teens, and families in Massachusetts, delivered through center-based peer support groups at its Arlington, MA facility and through school- and community-based outreach. Offerings include peer support groups, a Teens-Only program, Family Nights, a Parenting While Grieving series, a TOTS Only weekend program for pre-K/Kindergarten families, adult consultations, information and referrals, and fee-based training for educators and clinicians.

Product overview

The Children's Room (TCR) is a single nonprofit organization (not a software platform) that delivers an integrated portfolio of free-of-charge grief support services for children, teens, and families in Massachusetts. Its offering combines center-based programs at the Arlington facility — Peer Support Groups, the Teens-Only Peer Support Groups (including the annual Alumni Resiliency Panel), the Family Night series, the Parenting While Grieving Series, the newly launched TOTS Only weekend program for pre-K and Kindergarten children, and Adult Consultations — with outreach services (Services for Schools & Communities, including the Pathway to Partnership framework for school-based grief peer support groups, and Information & Referrals), a Training for Professionals program for educators, social workers, and clinicians, and supporting resources such as the Using Inclusive Grief Language guide, recommended reading lists, and academic internships and volunteer facilitator pathways. All programs are funded approximately 99% by philanthropy against a $1.9 million annual budget and operate alongside the organization's WooCommerce/Stripe-powered online store and Blackbaud/eTapestry-managed donation and newsletter forms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Peer Support Groups Free-of-charge, center-based peer support groups at the Arlington, MA location that bring grieving children, teens, and families together after a death loss to find community and shared experience.
• Teen Program / Teens-Only Peer Support Groups Dedicated peer support groups for grieving teens, complemented by teen events and the annual Alumni Resiliency Panel where former participants return to share reflections with current teens.
• Parenting While Grieving Series Educational series for parents and caregivers supporting their own grief while also parenting grieving children.
• Family Night Monthly evening gatherings at The Children's Room that bring grieving families together to connect, create, and spend meaningful time together.
• TOTS Only Weekend Grief Support Program Weekend grief support program for families with pre-K and Kindergarten-aged children who have experienced the death of a parent; designed as developmentally appropriate, emotionally safe, and play-based, with caregiver guidance.
• Services for Schools & Communities (Pathway to Partnership) School- and community-based grief support delivered directly into K-12 schools and partner organizations across eastern Massachusetts, using the staged Pathway to Partnership framework (professional development → TCR orientation → grief awareness event → co-led school-based grief peer support group).
• Training for Professionals Fee-based workshops, presentations, and professional development programs for educators, social workers, counselors, and clinicians on childhood and adolescent bereavement, with optional Continuing Education Credits available. Delivered on-site at TCR's Arlington center and at conferences (e.g., MTA Summer Conference at UMass Amherst).
• Consultations (Adult) One-on-one consultations for adults seeking guidance related to grieving children, teens, or families in their care.
• Information & Referrals Referral services connecting families to appropriate bereavement resources beyond The Children's Room's direct programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Hosted awareness events in 34 schools and community centers with 2,500+ students participating during November 2025 Children's & Teens' Grief Awareness Month
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core, moderate and minor.

• Boston Public Schools (BPS)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerDistrict-wide partnership including professional development for 80+ BPS social workers (February 2025), orientation sessions, and school-based grief peer support groups. Includes ongoing collaboration with Fenway High School.
• Boston Children's HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-developed a parenting support program for families after the death of a child, leveraging the hospital as the first touchpoint for pediatric grief.
• Youth Elemento (Chelsea, MA)moderateGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-hosted a bilingual (Spanish/English) teen grief awareness workshop in Chelsea, MA in September 2025, marking the first such event with this youth center partner.
• National Alliance for Children's Grief (NACG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProud member organization; TCR presented at the 28th NACG National Symposium (July 2025) and has participated in prior symposiums. NACG leads the national Children's Grief Awareness Day effort of which TCR's programming is a part.
• Blackbaud (eTapestry)coreTechnology or IntegrationEmbedded donation form and newsletter sign-up form hosted on Blackbaud's eTapestry platform; data is collected, transmitted, and stored by Blackbaud (not on childrensroom.org).
• WooCommerce / Stripe (Automattic)coreTechnology or IntegrationWooCommerce powers the online merchandise storefront; Stripe handles payment processing with data passed for purchase total and billing info.
• CloudFlarecoreTechnology or IntegrationProvides CDN services and trusted-traffic identification for the website (cookie: __cfduid).
• WP EnginecoreTechnology or IntegrationWebsite hosting infrastructure; cookie set rtk_gdpr_c, rtkuuid, rtk_sid, etc.
• Google (Analytics, Fonts, reCAPTCHA)coreTechnology or IntegrationWebsite analytics, webfont delivery, and spam prevention services integrated via standard WordPress/Fusion Theme integrations.
• Tufts UniversityminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerHosted a therapeutic space planning session led by Laurie Moskowitz-Corrois for Tufts students in August 2024.
• Parmenter Foundation / Regis CollegemoderateGTM or Marketing PartnerHosted a community panel event at Regis College on understanding grief; TCR's Program Director for School and Community-Based Services, Christine Lambright, participated as an expert panelist.
• Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA)moderateGTM or Marketing PartnerTCR presented the workshop 'Integrating Social-Emotional Learning and Grief Support in the Classroom' at the MTA Summer Conference at UMass Amherst (July 2024).
• DeVito Family / DeVito Funeral HomesminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-presented a free community educational workshop 'How Parents Can Help Children Cope with Grief and Loss' at Arlington Town Hall in May 2012.
• Fenway High SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-leads a school-based grief peer support group (9 students); partnership grew from BPS-wide PD session in February 2025 through orientation, awareness event (80+ students), and into an ongoing co-led group.
• Ottoson Middle School (Arlington, MA)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerHosted a Children's & Teens' Grief Awareness event in November 2025 where students created empathy hearts. Student Leah shared her personal story of loss and TCR's impact.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Experience Camps: National nonprofit providing free summer camp and year-round programs for grieving children. Comparable to TCR in serving bereaved youth through community-based programs, though delivered via camps rather than weekly peer groups.
• The Dougy Center: Portland, OR-based nonprofit founded in 1982 and considered the original model for children's and family bereavement peer-support programs. Directly comparable to TCR in mission, peer-support group model, and family-focused programming.
• Judi's House / JAG Institute: Denver-based nonprofit providing free, evidence-based grief support for children and families, with peer-support groups, family programs, and professional training — closely aligned to TCR's service portfolio and freemium model.
• Bo's Place: Houston-based nonprofit offering free peer-support groups for grieving children, teens, and adults, plus professional education. Comparable to TCR in free service delivery, group-facilitation model, and community-based grief support mission.
• The WARM Place: Fort Worth, TX-based nonprofit offering free grief-support programs for children and families after a death. Directly comparable to TCR's center-based peer-support group model and family-focused programming.
• Comfort Zone Camp: Virginia-based nonprofit offering free bereavement camps and programs for children and teens who have lost a parent or sibling. Comparable to TCR in free grief support for bereaved youth, but delivered through camp experiences.

Broad incumbents

• Eluna Network (Camp Erin): National nonprofit network operating Camp Erin bereavement camps and supporting grieving children and families across the U.S. Broader geographic and program footprint than TCR, with a similar donor-supported, free-service model.

Others

• National Alliance for Children's Grief (NACG): National membership association of which TCR is a proud member. Provides industry standards, annual symposiums, and the national Children's Grief Awareness Day framework that underpins TCR's awareness campaigns.
• Childhood Bereavement Changemakers: National nonprofit focused on improving access to bereavement support for children and training for the professionals who serve them. Comparable to TCR's training-for-professionals and awareness-advocacy programming.

Regional players

• Kids Path / Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro: North Carolina-based grief-support program for children and teens operated by a hospice organization. Comparable to TCR's peer-support model but anchored to a hospice parent organization in a different region.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/TheChildrensRoomMA
• Xx.com/childrensroom
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thechildrensroom

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Children's Room