This makes my heart sing! The Healing Chickadee flies in to Gabriel's life!

Dianna Vagianos has written a BEAUTIFUL blog where she shares from her heart and soul.  Her authenticity has helped me in my journey of grief.

In her blog today, she mentions The Healing Chickadee.  Please take a look!

http://www.diannavagianos.com/blog/?p=166

Thank you Dianna!  Big hugs to you and Gabriel

Dr. John Woodall's Endorsement. Thank you John!

I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Woodall and his wife, Margo, at an event last year.  I was immediately impressed and frankly, enamored, by both of them.  Their work on behalf of global peace and healing is impressive. 

Their accomplishments are extensive. Their humble nature and accessible manner,combined with their humor make them two of my favorite folks on the planet.  Lucky me!

John and Margo reviewed all the materials for The Healing Chickadee.  The follwing is what John wrote about our unique effort to help grieving children. 

What a comforting gift we have for our children in the amazing work Terry Murphy has given us in "the Healing Chickadee!"  Wise and kind, uplifting and comforting, the care she has taken to give grieving children the tools to grow from the pain of loss is nothing short of a precious gift.  Thank you, Terry!

Thank you Dr. Woodall!  Thank you Margo for the AMAZING work you do in our community. 

Below is just a small portion of Dr. Woodall's resume:

Community Resilience:

·         Founder and Director:

-    The Healing Arts Project:  Partnership between the Unity Project, the Boston

      Institute for Arts Therapy and the Department of Youth and Community

      Development of the City of New York to develop resilient ethical skills through

      the arts to build competent global citizens through DYCD’s extensive network

      of after-school programs throughout New York City.  January 2003 –present.

-     Launched at Gracie Mansion, May, 2003.

·         Newtown, CT:  Developed and launched a series of resilience-building programs for the community after the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

-          One of 3 advisors to the Newtown First Selectman on the strategy for the town for the first anniversary of tragedy and subsequent long range plans.

-          Devised idea of a “Year of Service” for the town and wrote the piece for the town newspaper, the Newtown Bee, announcing this plan to the town.

-          21^st Century Conversation resilience-building workshops for parents and adults. Designed and facilitated the workshops creating a network of townspeople with expertise in developing resilience in the community. Dec. 2012 to present.

-          The Newtown High School Unity Project: Advised school principal on resilience building theory and methods from the time of the tragic shooting until the present.  Created and facilitated student run Unity Council to develop student body resilience. Dec. 2012 to present.

-          PeaceBuilders for 11-14 year olds created and facilitated programming to create inter-ethnic and inter-religious understanding through community service and an adapted version of the Unity Project Transformation Process. Dec. 2012 to present.

-          Working with the Newtown interfaith community to coordinate a wide variety of resilience building efforts town-wide.  Dec. 2012 to present.

-          Providing consulting services to a number of local not-for-profit agencies on strategies to develop a resilient response to the tragedy of 12-14-12.

-          Numerous articles in the local newspaper on critical issues facing families and the community in the aftermath of the tragedy. Dec. 2012 to present.

-          A video series on building resilience produced in collaboration with the Sandy Hook Promise.  April, 2013.

-          Public talk on Building Resilience offered to the community in partnership with the Sandy Hook Promise.  April 2013.

-          Advised and consulted to Newtown Youth Academy on ways to create a town-wide resilience building program for youth using sports.  January 2013 to present.

-          One of 3 members of the Distribution Committee for the Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation Fund disbursing $7.7 million in charitable contributions to the 40 families most directly affected by the tragic shooting in Sandy Hook.  April 2013 to December 2013.

-          Creating a “Global Mental Health and Resilience Center” at Danbury Hospital through the University of Vermont School of Medicine.  April, 2013 to present.

-          Joined the Board of Ben’s Lighthouse, a not for profit dedicated to community service in honor of Ben Wheeler, one of the children killed in the Sandy Hook tragedy.

-          A variety of media interviews on resilience and strategies to build community resilience.  BBC, NPR, New York Times, CNN, etc.