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Updated: August 20, 2025

Center for Grieving Children responds to need by expanding into larger Sanford satellite location

By Tina Fischer

The Sanford office of the Center for Grieving Children is moving this month into a larger location to better serve a growing clientele.

The 1,550-square-foot facility, at 1209 Main St., offers more flexible space for the range of services the center provides.

Since opening an office in Sanford in 2011, the Portland-based nonprofit had been seeing clients in shared space in the North Parish Congregational Church at 895 Main St.

“Our age-based peer group model requires an array of rooms that’s atypical in many available spaces,” said Danielle Alexander, the center’s grief services coordinator. “We need a large room for gatherings of 60 to 80 people, along with seven to eight smaller rooms for more intimate support groups.” 

After touring nearly a dozen options, the team was thrilled to find a space “that checked all our boxes,” she said.

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PROVIDED PHOTO
Gretchen Johnson

Gretchen Johnson, executive director of the Center for Grieving Children, told Mainebiz that families and volunteers meeting in Sanford are not only from York County, but also from New Hampshire and Massachusetts. 

“As we are serving more people than ever, having this new space of our own is very exciting, as it will allow us to continue to grow, and to provide an inviting and welcoming space for the whole community,” she said.

In its recent fiscal year, the Sanford location served 62 individuals. Combined with numbers from its Portland office, the organization served 564 individuals. The nonprofit also offers some online services. 

The Sanford office has closed for the month of August and will reopen in the new location in September, offering free peer support, outreach and education to children, teens, young adults and their families. The center will also host volunteer recruitment events, educational programming and community gatherings. 

Samantha Marinko of the Boulos Co. represented the center in leasing the new space. Ann Lapierre of Town Square Realty Group represented the landlord, Merge Associates Inc.
 

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