Edward Foundation

The Share Grief Counseling Fund - Each year thousands of families leave the hospital without their child-with empty arms, broken hearts and a love for their deceased child that will always remain. Edward-Elmhurst Health offers a perinatal bereavement program with a dedicated, multidisciplinary staff of nurses, social workers and chaplains. The team is trained to provide family support in the event of a perinatal loss. Families can also receive support through the Share program, a local and national organization that serves and supports those who are touched by the loss of a child through miscarriage, stillbirth or early infant death. Contributions to the Edward Foundation share program help fund support groups, counseling services, activities and events, education and bereavement training, resource and reference materials, special projects and program supplies-tools to help guide families through the grieving process.

The Foundation funded the Care Center - a clinic for the diagnosis, treatment and legal documentation of sexually abused children. The Care Center is the only center of its kind in the region, serving nine counties. The Care Center is committed to treating victims of sexual assault and stopping the cycle of abuse. Its purpose is threefold: restore a sense of dignity and well-being to the child, identify, investigate and treat any medical sign or symptom, and document findings and collect evidence that may be significant for legal proceedings and the prosecution of sexual predators. Its success is attributed to a unique combination of evidence-based and current medical treatment that is provided with the utmost compassion and sensitivity. The Care Center works with social service agencies as part of a continuum of care. The team also works with state's Attorneys' offices to assist in the successful prosecution of sexual predators. The Care Center's education and training services have become an invaluable resource to state agencies, social service organizations, schools and other hospitals. The Care Centers budgets service for 105 patients each year.