Below are the various programs and initiatives that Band of the Strong is currently doing as a way to serve the our community here in Nebraska.

BOTS x The Collective for Hope

Our current focus is on grieving children and families, and young people with disabilities. For the coming year we have events planned for grieving children in the form of multi-week programming that works to unveil the stories of grievers and empower them to transform those stories. These multi-week programming sessions also are designed to provide new experiences and new perspectives on their individual truths. These programs run weekly throughout each month for the grieving children and families and culminate in the form of large quarterly events that are meant to help young people find “ah ha” moments in their grief journeys.

This general programming, noted above in the section about “What We Do,” requires a variety of art supplies, craft supplies, writing supplies, audio equipment, and the cost to pay employees to execute programming and analyze programming results. In the past years, we have been able to get by volunteering our time and efforts in the context of program execution, research, and development. As we look to move towards helping the community full time, it is the hope that we can secure funding that will allow us to sustain as we grow.

Quarterly Events and Camps

We have worked with The Collective for Hope for over the past 8 years. In that time we have created a variety of programs that have spanned from day-events at their annual grief camp to our most current work with the quarterly events we hold. These quarterly events are meant to provide young people who are grieving new experiences, in new and novel places, to re-tell their grief stories into stories of strength. Below are videos of the experience and impact of these events.