Imagine Newark Hosts Ribbon Cutting and Day of Remembrance

Joyously, members of the Newark community gathered with participants, volunteers and staff from Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss for a Ribbon Cutting and Day of Remembrance at Imagine’s new Newark center. Though Imagine has been offering free grief support groups in the Newark community since 2019, they’re so pleased to now be able to offer them from their own center at 570 Broad Street in Newark.

This space has been thoughtfully created with beautiful murals and support group rooms intended to create opportunities for support and connection for the children, teens, young adults and adults who are grieving a loss and attend Imagine’s free grief support groups. In addition to Imagine’s support group program, Imagine is also offering in-school support and grief education in the Newark community.

Imagine’s Newark Center exists because of a whole community of partners who have supported the effort to create this safe space for members of the Newark community who are coping with loss. Many from the community turned out for the Ribbon Cutting and speakers included Fatimah Burnam-Watkins, Imagine Board member and former Executive Director of Teach For America; Indira Jagoo, MSW, Imagine’s Newark Clinical Program Director; Lindsay Schambach, Imagine’s Executive Director; Kyle Newsome, School Leader at KIPP Rise Academy; TahZane’Y DeSmith, Teacher and Poet; Ameer Washington, CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newark; and Michelle Bell, Imagine Participant and Volunteer.

Additionally, Councilwoman Louise Scott Rountree along with South Ward Councilman Patrick Council offered a resolution honoring Imagine as one of the city’s community agencies and sharing a letter from Mayor Ras Baraka addressing the need for the services Imagine provides. Eyesha Marable of NJPAC offered a prayer and blessing on the Newark center and a welcome home to the families served by Imagine. The Imagine staff are so grateful for all of the community partners who took part in this event and helped celebrate the importance of Imagine’s presence in the Newark community.

Following the Ribbon Cutting, members of the community joined Imagine participants, volunteers and staff for a Day of Remembrance. Performers at the event included the Newark Collegiate Academy Choir who sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, DEW Youth Liturgical Dancers, TahZane’Y DeSmith who shared her gifts of spoken word and the Kipp NJ Dynamic Marching Band. The theme of the event was “Move, Speak, Create” and those attending were able to participate in workshops that provided opportunities to line dance, write and recite poetry, and create journals.

Imagine’s Newark Clinical Program Director, Indira Jagoo said this about the event: “I’m grateful we were able to show the Newark community that we’re an organization with open arms ready to welcome in community members and provide support.” Executive Director, Lindsay Schambach acknowledged the financial support of community partners like The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, the South Ward Promise Neighborhood and Leslie Larson who pushed her to think outside the box. Lindsay also shared: “This day is a full circle moment for me. As a young teacher in the city of Newark, I lost my father, Joseph Patrick Cullinan II to Stage 4 Brain Cancer. At the time, Newark created safe spaces for me to grieve my father. Now, twenty years later, we get to create a safe space for others grieving similar losses. The Newark community knows how to show up. It's time that non-profits and partners show up for the Newark community. Imagine is proud to serve families at our center and is deeply grateful for the countless trusted partners that we get to do this work alongside.”

If you and your family are interested in participating in support groups at Imagine’s Newark center, please reach out to Indira at 862-356-8523 or indira@imaginenj.org. For support at Imagine’s Mountainside center, please call 908-264-3100 or email info@imaginenj.org.

Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss is a 501c3 that offers grief and loss education and training to the community and free year-round grief support groups for children ages 3-18 and young adults 19-30 who are coping with a loss due to death. Concurrently, support groups are available for the parents and caregivers of the children in the groups and offered in English and Spanish. For more information, please contact Imagine at 908-264-3100 or info@imaginenj.org or visit their website at www. imaginenj.org.