"A lot of people feel great pain and grief," said Rosemarie Guiffra, a middle school student from Hoffman Estates. "It's kind of nice to know someone else knows."
Rosemarie's mother suffers from mental illness and her father "isn't in the picture" after their divorce, said Maria Chiappe, the girl's 65-year-old grandmother and caregiver.
The Bridge Youth & Family Services in Palatine specializes in those kinds of hardships. Rosemarie has been involved with the northwest suburban nonprofit for about five years, first for counseling and now in a mentorship program.
...what nearly all of the children who come to the Bridge have in common is a traumatic life experience, said Gregg Stockey, executive director.
About two years ago, the Bridge did an in-house survey and found 91 percent of the children they work with had gone through at least one adverse experience. About 58 percent had endured three or more, Stockey said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-holiday-giving-bridge-youth-20140101,0,5632760.story
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