About Us
The Compassionate Friends (TCF) is a national nonprofit, self-help support organization offering friendship, understanding, and hope to families grieving the death of a child of any age, from any cause. There is no religious affiliation and no individual membership fees or dues are charged. All bereaved family members are welcome. Founded in England in 1969, TCF was established in the United States in 1972, with 501(c)(3) not-for-profit incorporation in 1978, under which provision the organization’s more than 600 local chapters also operate. TCF operates as separate entities in at least 30 countries around the world.
Mission
The mission of The Compassionate Friends is to assist families toward the positive resolution of grief following the death of a child of any age and to provide information to help others be supportive.
Organization
TCF has a 13-member national volunteer board of directors consisting of bereaved parents, siblings, and grandparents.
In the 30+ years following its incorporation, TCF/USA has grown from 40 chapters to more than 600, with locations in all 50 states plus Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. All chapter leaders are volunteers and are bereaved parents or siblings, as are the 40 regional coordinators who serve as liaisons between chapters and the national organization.
TCF’s National Office is located in Oak Brook, Illinois.
Regular meetings of local chapters provide a caring environment in which bereaved parents, siblings, and grandparents can work through their grief with the help of others who have “been there.”
The Lafayette Chapter of the Compassionate Friends was chartered on August 17, 1982.
At that time The Compassionate Friends had only been in existence in the United States for four years after TCF was established in the United States.