The recipient entity's physical address:
           8890 Quarters Lake Rd. Baton Rouge, LA 70809

The recipient entity's mailing address (if different):
           8890 Quarters Lake Rd. Baton Rouge, LA 70809

Type of Entity (for instance, a nonprofit corporation):  Non-Profit Corporation

If the entity is a corporation, list the names of the incorporators:
          The Hospice of Baton Rouge
8591 United Plaza Blvd. Ste. 200
Baton Rouge, LA 70809

The last four digits of the entity's taxpayer ID number:  7207

What is the dollar amount of the request?  $300,000

What type of request is this?  General Appropriation

Is this entity in good standing with the Secretary of State?  Yes

Provide the name of each member of the recipient entity's governing board and officers:
           Matthew Valliere , President
2441 Creek Hollow Ave. Zachary, LA 70791

Philip Plaisance , Vice President
15281 Ryan Ave. Prairieville, LA 70769

Debbie Lowe , Treasurer
36381 Stanton Hall Ave. Denham Springs, LA 70706

Britt Drummond
3707 Claycut Rd. Baton Rouge, LA 70806

Prisha Patel
13714 Lexham Gardens Ave. Baton Rouge, LA 70810

Provide a summary of the project or program:
           The Retreat at Quarters Lake, by The Hospice of Baton Rouge, is an all-inclusive grief center offering free support to children, teens, and adults in Greater Baton Rouge, going beyond traditional clinical counseling. With this project, the Retreat will add a children's grief playground to its campus to reach even more young people.
For adults, the Retreat offers grief support groups in three tiers: structured groups for recent loss, including a group for widows and widowers; facilitated drop-in groups for those further along in their grief; and peer-led gatherings such as coffee meetups, walking groups, and mindfulness sessions. Specialized groups serve caregivers, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and people affected by suicide loss.
For children and teens, the Retreat offers a children's grief group, peer support groups for ages 8–12 and 13–17, a summer grief camp, and individual counseling for teens. The new playground will build on these programs. People of all ages can also take part in holistic therapies, including art and music therapy, pet therapy, grief yoga and meditative movement, and guided spiritual exercises. Counseling with licensed professionals, workshops, and community education with partner organizations round out its services.
Because children often grieve through play rather than words, the Retreat will add a playground that is fun first while teaching grief coping skills, like calm breathing, naming feelings, and releasing big emotions, along with a memory garden for remembering. Kids can play during their own grief groups or while caregivers attend sessions, helping the Retreat reach more children each year.
The playground benefits grieving children in several ways. Play gives them a natural way to express feelings they may not be able to say out loud, and physical activity offers a safe outlet for the anger, worry, and restlessness that often come with loss. Coping skills learned through games, like slow breathing or naming a feeling, are easier for children to remember and use later at home or at school. Playing alongside other kids who have also lost someone helps children feel less alone, and it reminds them that it is okay to laugh and have fun while still missing the person who died.

What is the budget relative to the project for which funding is requested?:
          Salaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . $0
          Professional Services. . . $0
          Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . $300,000
          Acquisitions . . . . . . . . . $0
          Major Repairs . . . . . . . $0
          Operating Services. . . . $0
          Other Charges. . . . . . . $0

Does your organization have any outstanding audit issues or findings?  No

If 'Yes' is your organization working with the appropriate governmental agencies to resolve those issues or findings?
          Not Applicable

What is the entity's public purpose, sought to be achieved through the use of state monies?
          The Retreat's purpose is to help people of every age learn to cope with and process grief in healthy ways, using approaches that meet them where they are rather than relying on traditional clinical counseling alone. Its gardens, holistic therapies, and activity-based groups reflect a belief that healing often happens through experience, not just conversation. The playground carries that purpose to the Retreat's youngest visitors. Young children rarely process loss by talking about it, so a space built for play gives them a way to heal that fits how they actually grieve. By adding the playground, the Retreat closes a gap in its care for children and comes closer to its goal of offering meaningful support to every grieving person in the community, no matter their age.

What are the goals and objectives for achieving such purpose?
          The playground project has three goals, each supported by measurable objectives.
The first goal is to expand access to grief support for children. The Retreat will complete construction and a certified safety inspection of the playground, serve children through playground-based activities in the first year after opening, and increase enrollment in its children's and teen grief programs.
The second goal is to help children build healthy coping skills through play. Facilitators will build coping-skill activities, such as calm breathing, naming feelings, safe physical release, and remembering, into children's group sessions each year.
The third goal is to help grieving children feel less alone and stay connected to the person who died. Through shared play, children will build friendships with other kids who understand their loss, with facilitators leading group play activities each year designed to build trust and peer connection. Children will also have a place to remember: children each year will take part in memory garden activities, such as decorating a stone or planting a flower in honor of their loved one.

What is the proposed length of time estimated by the entity to accomplish the purpose?
           12 months

If any elected or appointed state official or an immediate family member of such an official is an officer, director, trustee, or employee of the recipient entity who receives compensation or holds any ownership interest therein:
     (a) If an elected or appointed state official, the name and address of the official and the office held by such person:
                 n/a
    
     (b) If an immediate family member of an elected or appointed state official, the name and address of such person; the name, address, and office of the official to whom the person is related; and the nature of the relationship:
                 n/a

     (c) The percentage of the official's or immediate family member's ownership interest in the recipient entity, if any:
                 n/a

     (d) The position, if any, held by the official or immediate family member in the recipient entity:
                  n/a

If the recipient entity has a contract with any elected or appointed state official or an immediate family member of such an official or with the state or any political subdivision of the state:
(a) If the contract is with an elected or appointed state official, provide the name and address of the official and the office held by such person: 
               n/a

(b) If the contract is with an immediate family member of an elected or appointed state official:
          Provide the name and address of such person:
               n/a

          Provide the name, address, and office of the official to whom the person is related:
                n/a

          What is the nature of the relationship? 

(c) If the contract is with the state or a political subdivision of the state, provide the name and address of the state entity or political subdivision of the state:
                 n/a

(d) The nature of the contract, including a description of the goods or services provided or to be provided pursuant to the contract:
               n/a


Contact Information
name:  Emily Cutrer 
                                       address:  8890 Quarters Lake Rd.
Baton Rouge, LA 70809
                                       phone:  2257885619
                                       fax: 
                                       e-mail:  ecutrer@retreatbr.org
                                       relationship to entity:  Executive Operations Manager