June Firefly Chat
Honoring Our Children:
Initiating Conversations About Funeral Planning and Memorialization

Wednesday, June 7, 2023 — Noon-1:00 PM EST

Click HERE to REGISTER for the June 7th webinar.

Making arrangements at the end of a child's life is something that is approached differently by every family and caregiver. Join PPCC for a Firefly Chat that will delve into this complicated conversation - one that is hard to think about and often even harder to initiate.

Our host and panelists will share their experience talking with different families, illuminating the incredibly diverse ways in which people plan, prepare for, and memorialize when a child's death occurs. Now more than ever, there is no standard, one-size-fits-all plan.

During this Firefly Chat we will:

    • Discuss common questions
     • Review misconceptions
     • Embrace curiosity

Our panel will explore ways to have productive and effective conversations at the end of a child's life. We hope you will join us as we talk together about the highs and the lows that are an inevitable part of this journey.

Our host, Dana Dombrowski, will be joined by Joan McConahy, Bereaved Parent and Melissa Greberman, Clinical Social Worker for this discussion, and we look forward to hearing your questions and ideas as well.

We invite you to register for what we hope will be an informative and enlightening conversation.
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Firefly Chats are always free of charge, but registration is required.
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Click HERE to REGISTER for the June 7th webinar.


Presenters:

Joan McConahy, Mom, Bereaved Mom
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‍Joan McConahy is a mom to 3 sons and a bereaved mom to another son, Sam, who died in 2002 at the age of 7 after a 3-year battle with a GBM brain tumor. Joan currently works as the PPCC Program Coordinator and PPC Webinar Series Coordinator. She also volunteers and has been a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society for more than 20 years. Joan graduated with a BS in Chemistry/Biochemistry from Bethany College, and she has worked as an engineer for Alcoa and a marketing manager/director for US Filter Corporation and Underground Solutions. She has also worked in the area of education for Seneca Valley School District and CCUPC.

In addition to Sam, who brought joy to all around him and lived his life to the fullest, Joan's husband, Dave, and three other sons, Stephen, Ben and Mark, round out her life. Joan's greatest joy is being part of such a positive family. She credits her husband, sons and extended family for their unwavering support and love.


‍Melissa Greberman, LCSW
Cardiology Clinical Social Worker
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Melissa Greberman is a Cardiology Clinical Social Worker at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Cardiac Center. Melissa has been a Social Worker for 5 years and is passionate about palliative care and bereavement support for families, with a special interest in families impacted by congenital heart disease.


‍Moderator:

Dana Dombrowski, MSW, LSW
Social Worker and Psychosocial Program Coordinator
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Dana Dombrowski graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2003 with a BS in Family Development and a minor in Sociology. She went on to attend graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania where she received her Master’s degree in Social Work in 2005. Upon completion of this program, she obtained her LSW and was hired by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as a Pediatric Oncology Social Worker. She worked in that position specializing in patients with a terminal cancer diagnosis, grief and loss for over 8 years. In 2013, Dana joined CHOP’s palliative care team (PACT Team) as a social worker and the psychosocial program coordinator.