Jamie Saltamachia, LSW, has joined the staff of Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss, in the new role of in-school program associate. Jamie will be running groups and leading educational workshops in the field of grief support for four Newark -area schools – the Achieve Charter School, North Star Academy (Clinton Hill), Peshine, and the Great Oaks Charter School. The position is funded by a Promise Neighborhood Grant.
Ms. Saltamachia most recently worked as the School Social Worker for the North Star Academy in Newark, NJ, where she provided direct services to the school community in the form of crisis intervention, behavior management, one-on-one counseling, and psychoeducation. Prior to that, she was Assistant Director of Service Learning and Student Engagement at the Dorothy Day Center at Fordham University, where she oversaw all volunteer and advocacy programming.
Ms. Saltamachia gained first-hand knowledge of the services provided by Imagine when the nonprofit was called in to provide assistance during a traumatic loss that occurred at a school where she was employed. She was so impressed with the grief support provided by Imagine staff, that she began to volunteer her services.
Ms. Saltamachia received a Master of Social Work from the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service, and a B.S. in Psychology/B.A. in Social Work from Fordham University. “We are so thrilled Jamie has joined the staff of Imagine,” said Mary Robinson, Founder and Executive Director of Imagine. “Jamie brings a wealth of education, knowledge, and experience to our grief support efforts, and is a warm and compassionate person who will provide great comfort to the children, teachers and staff in the Newark schools.”
About Imagine
Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss, a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization, provides free year-round grief support for children and young adults using a peer-support group model. Trained adult volunteers and professionals provide children and teens with the comfort and tools needed to learn to process grief and grow up emotionally healthy. In addition to providing grief support at its centers, Imagine staff provides education it the community, leading workshops and providing on-site support in schools and workplaces where traumatic loss has occurred. Imagine has two centers in New Jersey — in Mountainside and Newark.