Uplift Center for Grieving ChildrenOur Team
Darcy Walker Krause, J.D., LSW, C.T.
Executive Director
darcy@upliftphilly.org
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice and Duke University School of Law, Darcy is a passionate advocate for grieving children and families. Having lost her mother at 15, Darcy knows the loss experience intimately. It is this loss that led Darcy to work in childhood bereavement. Prior to joining the Center, Darcy worked as the Sibling Bereavement Project Coordinator at Peter's Place in Radnor, Pennsylvania. Before this, Darcy practiced law in private practice for five years.
Through her professional and research experience, Darcy focuses on a variety of facets of the loss experience, including the peer support model, the role of attachment in grief, trauma-based models of intervention, and ways of fostering resiliency in youth. Because of this work and interest, Darcy has been a guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania and been published by the Philadelphia Daily News. An active member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, Darcy won the 2012 Student Paper award for her paper entitled Creating and Fostering Attachment through Mentorship: The Role of Secondary Attachments as an Intervention for Parentally-Bereaved Children," which she presented at the annual conference.
Meghan Szafran, MS, LPC, CT
Director of School & Community Services
meghan@upliftphilly.org
Meghan comes to the Center with an extensive clinical background in the fields of behavioral health, addiction, and trauma. She spent numerous years providing group and individual counseling to adolescents and their families affected by drug and alcohol addiction as the lead therapist at TODAY, Inc. She also worked as the Director of Prevention Services at TODAY, Inc., collaborating with various school districts and community agencies writing grants, implementing violence and bullying prevention programs, and facilitating parenting groups. Prior to coming to the Center, Meghan worked as mobile therapist and behavior consultant, providing community-based individual and family therapy for children with behavior issues, developing crisis plans, and implementing behavioral interventions. The mission of the Center drew Meghan to this work as her passion is helping children who have experienced loss and trauma. Meghan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Health and Human Services from Virginia Wesleyan College and a Master of Science in Counseling Psychology with a specialization in Trauma Studies from Chestnut Hill College.
Heather S. Giampapa, MA, CFRE
Director of Development & Communications
heather@upliftphilly.org
Coming soon.
Crystal Wortham, MSW, LSW
Family Services Coordinator
crystal@upliftphilly.org
After earning her Bachelor’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University in Psychological & Social Science, Crystal will obtain her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) in May 2015. Crystal’s passion for working with children and families is authentic and sincere, and she demonstrates the competence and motivation to be successful. Crystal is known as a hard worker who strives to excel. She is a scholar who takes an active role in her learning experience. Focus, empathy, optimism, ambition, self-motivation, maturity, a good sense of humor, and a strong work ethic characterize her endeavors. Her greatest asset, which cannot be taught, is her genuine concern for others.
Teresa Mendez-Quigley, MSW
Special Populations Coordinator
teresa@upliftphilly.org
Teresa joined The Center in 2015 after working in a variety of social service organizations, demonstrating a passion for working to build stronger communities and families. She has worked at three health care-related facilities in Philadelphia, created innovative responses to health threats from environmental exposures, and served families as a bilingual Spanish-speaking social worker. She has mentored girls and youth and advocated on behalf of families and communities at various non-profit organizations throughout the region. Teresa earned a Bachelor’s of Social Work from Temple University and a Masters of Social Work from Rutgers University. She has also completed fellowships with the Hispanic Women’s Leadership Institute at Rutgers University, the Environmental Leadership Program, and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Agency Climate Stewards Education Project.
Lamya Broussard, MSS, MLSP
School and Community Services Clinician
lamya@upliftphilly.org
Coming soon.