Helping Hands has a new resource in place for teenagers in need, with a direct connection to Portland, Oregon, and a local family that lost a 13-year-old boy to an inoperable brain tumor in 1982. Emphasis is on helping young people deal with loss.
Dougy Turno, who grew up in Aiken, is the namesake of the Dougy Center, a Portland facility dedicated to providing "grief support in a safe place where children, teens, young adults, and their families can share their experiences before and after a death," as noted in the facility's website.
Helping Hands, in turn, has established a partnership with the Oregon facility, officially known as Dougy Center: The National Grief Center for Children and families. The new program now being offered locally is L.Y.G.H.T. — Listening and Led by Youth in Foster Care: Grief, Hope, and Transitions.
