Two women Linda Lake of Fayetteville

and Diana Palma of Tyrone touched by the needs of children and teens who

have experienced loss, are bringing Rainbows to Fayette County.

In Georgia alone, it is estimated

there are 60,000 single-parent families, and very few resources helping

their children to heal. Rainbows is not therapy or counseling, but facilitator-led

peer groups which encourage children to recognize and share the normal

feelings associated with grief.

with other struggling children, kids learn coping skills and begin rebuilding

lives shattered by death, divorce, or a move.

When Lake was a flight attendant

"years ago," she says she was haunted by the bewildered faces

of "unaccompanied minors" traveling to visit their non-custodial

parents, then home again, saying good-bye to parents at either end of

the journey.

Divorced parents, she noted,

get on with their lives, begin dating and make a new start, and assume

that since they feel better about what has happened, their children are

OK too. But often they are not, and are unable or unwilling to tell the

adults in their lives. "Sure wish we'd stop thinking our kids are

tough," Lake says. "There's lots going on on the inside and

so many need loving help."

She's not blaming parents,

she adds quickly. "When a child loses someone they love, they usually

don't tell their families of their feelings because they don't want to

hurt their parents any more than they already are."

Now director of a church youth

ministry in Peachtree City, Lake remembered those grieving children when

she heard about Rainbows from a middle school teacher in her congregation.

The teacher praised the program but lamented the limitations of the public

school setting, in which she could not mention God or the healing power

of prayer.

Lake learned, however, that

Rainbows was originally conceived by a Catholic mom in Chicago who wanted

for her sons the kind of peer support she found following a divorce. The

organization that grew from her efforts has a religious program, offered

in several Baptist and United Methodist churches in Georgia, as well as

in Jewish temples.

Palma, meanwhile, had left

her teaching position at Sandy Creek High School to go back to graduate

school for computer skills that would help her husband's medical supply

business. It was a good growth experience, but she "needed an outlet

I still wanted to work with kids," she says.

She was touched by the devastation

of kids because of divorce, but also "from moving, even the loss

of a pet. And kids in single-parent families get very close to grandparents,

then lose the grandparent. Being in a single-parent family makes a child

87 percent more likely to experience some kind of harm or neglect."

So Palma volunteered with Lake

to make Rainbows available through their church, Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran.

Palma coordinates training for the unpaid facilitators who meet with the

kids, and Lake sees to it that space and time are available in the church.

Here's how it works. Children

may be referred by parents or caretakers and join groups by age: Rainbow

for kindergarten through eighth grade, Spectrum for ninth through 12th,

Kaleidoscope for young adults, and Prism for single parents.

Parents and kids must commit

to attend for six weeks in the fall, followed by a "Celebrate Me

Day," and then again for the same time frame in the spring. During

the fall session, discussion focuses on how families communicate, what's

important to them, and how they handle problems, Palma said. "At

the end of the fall session, they are encouraged to let some of that go

and give forgiveness.

"In the spring when they

come back, they're investigating a little bit deeper into topics of step-families,

blended families, single-parent families, working parents, absentee parents,"

she continued, "trying to learn to express honestly and clearly their

feelings about these situations, and by the end they are ready for acceptance

and forgiveness."

Sometimes families don't meet

their attendance commitment, and that's OK, she said. "That means

they may not be ready to deal with it. The program is designed for kids

who have had a little time to process [their experience]. When they're

ready to talk openly and honestly, they're usually ready to work through

the stages and heal."

Curriculum material costs about

$25 per child, according to Lake. Rainbows asks for a donation of $18

per family, with the remaining costs absorbed by the sponsoring group.

Public funding, available to secular Rainbow groups, is not available

for churches like Christ Our Shepherd which allow nondenominational Christian

teachings. Scholarships may be awarded to families with financial limitations.

For information or an application,

Palma may be reached at 770-631-9823, Lake at 770-487-8717. The state

headquarters for Rainbows is in Marietta, at 770-321-9636.