Sesame Street Unveils "Family Connections" Website and "Sesame Rooms" for Military Families

Talk Listen Connect Phase III: Helping Families with Young Children Cope with the Death of a Loved One

Philadelphia, PA., July 16, 2009
In continuing efforts to support our military families with young children and help them stay connected, feel reassured and comforted, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, unveiled the Sesame Street Family Connections website and today rolled out thirty five “Sesame Rooms” across the United States. These new resources are part of Sesame’s ongoing Talk, Listen, Connect (TLC) initiative, which provides support and offers significant resources for military families with young children experiencing the effects of deployments, when a parent returns home changed due to a combat related injury and the newest phase announced today, helping children cope with the death of a loved one. The announcements were made by Brigadier General Loree K. Sutton, Director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, Patty Shinseki, Member of the Board of Directors of The Military Child Education Coalition, Gary E. Knell, President and CEO of Sesame Workshop and Sesame Street’s Elmo and his Dad today at the Military Child Education Coalition’s (MCEC) National Conference.

The Sesame Street Family Connections website (www.SesameStreetFamilyConnections.org) is a bilingual, (English/Spanish) child centered online space where both children and adults can interact and stay connected when distance makes everyday communication difficult. With the help of their favorite Sesame Street friends, family members can compose encouraging messages to each other, share artwork and videos, upload photos, and get answers to some questions they may have but didn't know how to ask. Sesame Street Family Connections will serve as the common and private online place to keep military families connected across the globe.

“This rewarding opportunity to collaborate in launching such a creative website provides a vital tool in the recovery, resilience and reintegration toolbox that our military families need and deserve,” said Brig. Gen. Sutton. “Families and warriors will be able to stay connected and share in a safe and nurturing place, joined by their special Sesame Street friends.”

Additionally, Sesame Workshop, with the support of New York designer Jonathan Adler and several generous partners, has created “Sesame Rooms;” a rich and engaging set of materials to brighten up spaces and provide a much needed child friendly place for military children to play. Sesame Street will send a “room-in-a-box” to thirty-five locations across the United States, including children spaces in military hospitals, libraries, child care centers, and family support centers. Major donations have been generously contributed by friends of Sesame Street including: Ball, Bounce, and Sport Inc. – Hedstrom; Blue Mountain Wallcoverings; Dalmation; Fisher-Price Friends; Idea Nuova, Inc.; Random House Children's Books; Paradise Press; Sandylion; TekNek Toys International L.P.; and Vandor, LLC. Additional donations provided by Benjamin Moore, Kolcraft, Fabrics by Spectrix, Learning Curve Brands, and Pictorial Offset Corporation.

Sesame Workshop is committed to providing our military families with the resources they deserve,” said Gary E. Knell, President and CEO of Sesame Workshop. “We hope that Talk, Listen, Connect, which reaches out to all families with young children, will continue to help families discover ways they can be resilient despite experiencing difficult transitions in their lives.”

“The Military Child Education Coalition is delighted to partner once again with Sesame Workshop on its initiatives, that have been uniquely beneficial to military children and their families,” said Patty Shinseki. “Elmo and his friends, Sesame’s beloved characters with whom children connect so well, serve as conduits for dealing with the difficult issues in nurturing and sensitive ways. These valuable tools and resources for fostering resilience help children to thrive during the good times and challenging ones.”

The newest phase of Sesame Workshop’s Talk, Listen, Connect initiative is aimed to help children cope with the death of a loved one. Most recent data states that one in 20 American children under the age of 15 loses a parent (or both parents.)^[1] The loss of a parent can be caused by car accidents, illness, suicide, and war-related incidents, among others. Special populations, like military families, are more at risk to experience a sudden death. Around 1,345 children from military families lost a parent serving in the military during 2006 to 2007 alone.^[2] The death of a parent is one of the most difficult things a child can face. Grieving encompasses one’s whole being: cognitively, behaviorally, emotionally and psychologically. For young children in particular, loss can feel overwhelming as they are learning and developing while their lives drastically change.

Talk, Listen, Connect: Helping Families With Children Cope With the Death of a Loved One will consist of bilingual (English/Spanish) multimedia materials for young children and adults starring the Muppets from Sesame Street. Sesame Workshop will produce and distribute materials at no cost through organizations that provide services to military families and the general public, including grief centers, social services, and other programs specifically addressing the needs of children and families coping with the death of an immediate family member. The kit materials will also be available online at www.sesamestreet.org/tlc

TLC III’s Advisory Board, which consists of leading experts in child development and mental health will inform and guide Sesame Workshop on all aspects of the project. They will help determine the needs and challenges of young children, including those in military families, and guide the development of age-appropriate and effective content for the program. For a full listing of all TLC Project Advisors please visit www.sesamestreet.org/tlc.

TLC III Advisory Board Members include:

Judith A. Cohen, M.D. Medical Director, Center for Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents

Stephen J. Cozza, M.D., COL, U.S. Army (Ret), Professor of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Vanessa Gabrielson, Volunteer, Leader, Facilitator, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)

Betsy Graham, LTC, Deputy Chief Case Management Branch, Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operations Center (CMAOC)

Frederica (Terri) Holmes, Parent, Quality Control Specialist National Institutes of Health

Larry E. Jones, COL Army National Guard (ARNGUS) State Chaplain Joint Force Headquarters, North Carolina

Alicia F. Lieberman, Ph.D., Director, Child Trauma Research Program

Mary C. Owen, LCSW, Clinical Director, Wendt Center for Loss and Healing

Patty Shinseki, Board Member, Military Child Education Coalition; Member of Board of Managers of The Army Emergency Relief

Barbara Thompson, Director, Office of Family Policy/Children and Youth, Office of the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense

Major support for the Talk, Listen, Connect initiative has been provided by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, Iraq Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund of the California Community Foundation (IADIF), BAE Systems, Military OneSource, and the Wal-Mart Foundation. Additional support provided by: Lockheed Martin Corporation, the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYSOMH), American Greetings Corporation, McCormick Foundation Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB),the USO (United Service Organizations), the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) and Joseph Drown Foundation.

About Sesame Workshop

Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization that changed television forever with the legendary Sesame Street. As the single largest informal educator of young children, local Sesame Street programs produced in countries as diverse as South Africa, Bangladesh and India are making a difference in over 120 nations. Using proprietary research to create engaging and enriching content, Sesame Workshop produces programs such as Dragon Tales and Pinky Dinky Doo. In addition, multimedia needs-driven initiatives providefamilies tools for addressing such issues as children’s health, military deployment and emergency preparedness. As a nonprofit, product proceeds and philanthropic donations support Sesame Workshop’s educational research and creative content for children around the world. Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org.