Current Support Groups
- New American Heroes, meeting at the Wilkes-Barre YMCA at 40B West Northampton Street on the second Monday of each month from 6:00pm to 7:30pm. Joan Gower is the facilitator and can be reached at 570-401-9815 or by email at joan.m.gower@gmail.com
- Pittston Memorial Library, meeting at the library the fourth Monday of each month at 12:00pm. Contact is Howard Grossman who may be reached at 570-262-3443 or by email at grgnepa@gmail.com.
- Loftus-Vergari Associates, Inc. at 25 Old River Road in Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702. Meets the third Tuesday of the month from 10:30am to 12:30pm. Must register ahead of time by calling 570-822-9706. Facilitator is Cynara Wattley Liburd. The group is called LVA Resource Parent Support Group. Email is cwattleyliburd@loftus-vergair.com.
- Grand Love, meeting at the Wayne Memorial Hospital in the David Katz Conference Room during the months of April through November. These meetings are twice a month on the first and third Thursdays at 6:00pm. December through March the meetings are once monthly. The contact is Allyson Pretty-Hopkin, Care Coordinator at the Honesdale Sterling and Waymart Pediatric Centers. She may be contacted at 570-253-5838 or by email at kopkinsa@wmh.org.
- There are two groups in Lackawanna County. Parents: A Second Time Support Group. Are you an older adult raising children of a family member? You’re not alone…join us at a monthly support group to hear similar situations that others are experiencing while we entertain your children. Learn about potential resources, community programs, services, and agencies that can provide connections, guidance, and peer support to older persons living with, caring for and parenting the children of loved ones.
- CaPAA at the Ritz – 222 Wyoming Ave. – Scranton, PA 18503 – Meet the 2nd Monday of every month from 5:30pm to 7:30pm
- Throop Civic Center – 500 Sanderson St – Throop, PA 18512 – Meet the 4th Monday of every month from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.
To get more information or reply to attend a group, please contact the Lackawanna County Area Agency on Aging at 570-963-6740, or email PAST@lackawannacounty.org
- Behavioral Health Associates in Carbon County holds a Support Group for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. For more information on this group please Terry Berger, Clinical Director at 610-379-9304. This is a closed group running 10 weeks. Members have the option of renewing again at the end of those 10 weeks.
Behavioral Health Associates – 413 Bridge Street – Weissport, PA 18235
The Coalition has received information from Jaia Lent of Generations United (GU) regarding what is available from each of the fifty states in the USA regarding the GRG Programs in the USA. This information can be found by contacting the Chair of the Coalition, Howard J. Grossman, at either his phone at 570-262-3443 or e-mail grossmanhj@aol.com. He is collecting details regarding some of the nearby states to see if there are any new programs that could be utilized in Pennsylvania. Jaia Lent has been very cooperative in detailing data from these sources, and Generations United provides much support information in their various publications. AARP led him to the source material.
GU was one of the resources funded by the Moses Taylor Foundation when mini grants were available, enabling the Coalition to join two national organizations. The second was the national Area Agency on Aging entity that serves the many AAA groups across the nation.
National organizations that have material that GRG families can utilize are recommended for contact by our families in this region. - Kin Connector
One of the best resources available is that found in Kin Connector which is the Pennsylvania resource network with a staff in Harrisburg. Their web site is kinconnector.org. Their phone number is 866-546-2111 and they are open Monday to Friday from 7 AM to 5 PM. They have a staff of several employees, trained to assist GRG families. Families often have financial and legal concerns, and can refer to a kinship law specialist, the Senior Law helpline for legal issues if caregivers are 60 plus, or a local lawyer in their area that is a good fit for their family’s needs. They also, suggest applying to their Area Agency on Aging’s Caregiver Support Program for grandparents age 55 plus who are caring for children and teens. Kin Connector helps families with COMPASS applications for state aid, and suggest they apply for the Child Only Grant. They, also, can help find quality childcare referrals for families, and emphasize the importance of the ELRCs( Early learning Resource Centers) or this free resource to help families find childcare.(www.compass.state.pa.us/Compass.We4b/ProviderSearch/ Home)
Checking the Kin Connector web site is often very useful to obtain resources. Access to www.kinconnector.org/copy-of-resources where families can obtain a Covid-19 emergency resource guide with links to different agencies that help grandparent families during Covid.
If grandparents are interested, Kin Connector can offer free online trainings, podcasts, and webinars on grandparenting and kinship issues, like kinship family dynamics, loss and grief, a legal Q and A chat with a kinship law specialist, and other topics that will be added in the future. Contact www.kinconnector.org/kinship-families.
Podcasts hosted by Tia-Maria are designed to be especially useful and that can be reached at https://anchor.fm/tia-maris-smith.
There are local or statewide support groups. Kin Connector has links to existing groups at https://www.kinconnector.org/supportgroups. They are, also, hoping to launch new support groups in the future.
More service information will be made available in the future - Matt Kaplan — Penn State University
I have had considerable contact with Matt Kaplan over the years regarding GRG and assistance to families. Matt has a Ph.D and has expertise in developing and evaluating intergenerational initiatives in diverse settings. Training Extension educators and other professionals in intergenerational programming, establishing intergenerational strategies for civic engagement and environmental design are among his specialties. He has administered summer programs for GRG families to enable camps to help meet the needs of GRG families.
Matt can be reached at 814-863-7871 or by e-mail at msk15@psu.edu. He is located at University Park at State College. He teaches an online course for Intergenerational Programs and Aging, and has written many publications.
If you need to reach Matt, another way is to contact Coalition Chair Howard J. Grossman at: - The Brookdale Foundation Group, 300 Frank W. Burr Blvd. Suite 13, Teaneck, NJ 07666.
They advance geriatrics and gerontology around the world, but concentrate in the USA. established in 1950, they cultivate the next generation of leaders and have funded GRG functions.
They have a RAPP PROGRAM ( RELATIVES AS PARENTS PROGRAM)
They constitute three parts of the Group that includes The Brookdale Foundation, The Glendale Foundation, and the Ramapo Trust.