Hi, I’m Molly, the Director of Eluna’s brand new resource center, and I’m here to help.

We have been working behind the scenes for over a year to bring you an online resource center like no other and I am so excited we have finally launched this initiative!  

Since 2003, I have been working to build awareness and fundraise for programs that help children heal. Armed with an MBA in project management and through strong relationships with local care providers and national experts, I have obtained a first-hand understanding of the dire need for building and launching Eluna Resource Center. I thought this blog would be a great avenue to share with you why Eluna Resource Center launch became a priority initiative for Eluna and how it can serve you and other children and families in need.

A history of helping children and families

For the past 16 years, Eluna has received a multitude of calls from distressed families all across the country. Sometimes it is a woman whose best friend’s husband is dying, sometimes it is a grandfather whose son is struggling with addiction and he worries about his grandkids, and sometimes it is a teacher who noticed that one of her students was sad most of the day.   

Our response is “of course, we are here to help”. We take action and make phone calls to a hospice in Santa Cruz, or an afterschool program in Austin or a recovery center in Boston. We make connections and get these families the help they need. 

Our campers need ongoing help

All of us  at Eluna, attend camps whenever we can and have seen the faces of the children that need help.  At camp you celebrate and you cry with the kids. Then, when you watch the kids leave at the end of camp, you know that their journey through tough times is not over.  We also know that millions of children affected by grief and addiction will not make it to camp. So we asked our partners what else we could do for these children and families.

In fact, we surveyed our partners and learned that they needed one comprehensive resource for the families they serve. The survey showed that children and teens continue to face a host of issues after camp.  Parents, teachers and friends want to know things like:

• how to talk to their kids about grief through each stage of development
• how to address the depression that can accompany having a parent struggling with addiction
• education about suicide prevention
• tools to build self-esteem and resiliency in children who are dealing with difficult circumstances

Big decision

With this information, our Board of Directors, our Founders, and Jolene McCaw (The Jolene McCaw Family Foundation) decided to support a resource building initiative with targeted funding to form partnerships, hire staff (that’s me!) and launch a new website.  

If we build it... 

Eluna started with our network of over 60 camp partners and reached out to national organizations that are hyper-focused on single issues and are continuously developing strategies to improve the lives of children. The response to our request to share their expertise was overwhelmingly positive.  After all, like us, these organizations and experts want as many people as possible to have access to the information needed to help children and families in need. Articles, videos, activities and information about support organizations started to flow in. 

The design of the site and the organization of our resources became our next priority. We knew these resources needed to be organized and tagged in a way that is simple to understand and we wanted our site to be comfortable and personal. Our library of resources is carefully curated and we provide a variety of search methods so that your results are relevant and of the highest quality.

…they will come

But what about all of those phone calls and emails that we are still getting?  It became clear that this personal contact is our legacy, a very important part of Eluna Resource Center, and something that really sets us apart from other resource pages. My phone number and email is on our site so that you can contact me,  confidentially share your story and I can provide you with a list of things that, from our years of providing resources and support, I think will be most helpful.  

What it all means

Eluna Resource Center is special because it was born from a genuine need to continue to support families and campers.  This dynamic resource is constantly updated, because the issues that face children and families, and the solutions that they need, never stop evolving.  It is easy to use and simple to access. 

We invite you to explore our resources, search for issues that you care about and find what you need to help your friend, your child, your student or yourself. I would love to hear your feedback as to how we can improve our resource site and personalized support service. Most importantly, we hope that you share this resource with families in your life that need help.

Hi, I’m Molly and I am here to help.

Molly Hasson, Director of Eluna Resource Center
mollyhasson@elunanetwork.org 
(206) 298-1217
Learn more about Molly

Visit Eluna Resource Center