(lighthearted music) - With so much going on in the world today, I know you have a lot to deal with.

That's why we partnered with Kate's Club in Atlanta to have a conversation with teens about grief and loss.

Teens, parents, and educators, tune in now on how to navigate the difficult conversation around grief.

Join Renier and I for this special episode of "Hope Givers."

(lighthearted music continues) (paper rustling) (marker scratching) (marker scratching) (paper rustling) - My name's Jenna.

(lighthearted music) My only nickname would be Jen that everybody calls me.

- My name is Krystian.

My nickname is Kryssy.

- My name is Tristan.

- Name is Donta.

My grandma calls me Boop and my friends call me Ta.

I am Ethan Greenberg.

I had this one nickname around camp.

Everyone knew me as Rubik's Cube kid.

- Hey, I'm Renier and I'm your host, and today we have five amazing people here.

How you guys doing?

- Good.

- I'm good.

- Good.

- Little bit nervous?

- [Ethan] Yeah.

- Yeah.

- No.

- Yes.

- Little bit, little bit?

(lighthearted music continues) (gentle music) - My dad died when I was eight, and then my grandma also passed away two years ago in 2021, I think.

- My stepdad, my dad, and my granddad passed.

- My dad died on October 5th, 2016, by suicide.

- My father died and he died by getting struck by lightning.

- It's my brother who died.

- So what does grief feel like?

- Losing my dad was like my first actual heartbreak.

So of course, my heart was destroyed.

And then my mind was all messed up 'cause I was like I have to learn to walk into our house and not expect him to be sitting on the couch.

And I have to learn to be able to live without having a dad every day.

- It was really hard for me because my dad was a businessman.

He was a manager.

- [Renier] Mm-hmm.

- So he was out of the house a lot, so it was a little easier 'cause I didn't know him as well.

But at the same time, it was much harder because it was, I barely knew him.

I barely knew him as a person.

And there all these stories that I get told six years later, I'm like, I wish I could've known that.

- [Renier] Mm-hmm.

- I wish I could've heard that from him.

- Yeah, I'd have to say the same.

Probably in my heart and mind, that's where those losses really hit me the most, really made me in a depressed state at a certain point.

And I was down for a little while, but then I was able to get back on my feet and feel much better.

- So what's one of your favorite memories that you have of your person who died?

- Well, 2 1/2 years ago, got his flag, and then it was decorated on the window.

And I thought of getting him another flag for his birthday tomorrow.

- [Renier] What kind of flag?

- Another American flag.

- [Renier] Okay.

- My dad playing basketball with my older brother.

I've been playing basketball since a little one 'cause my dad was teaching me and my brother plays in college.

I like to play basketball just because I can express myself, and I feel attached to my dad because he was the one that taught me it.

He was the one that trained me during basketball season, and he was the one that took me to the gym, and I just feel connected to him.

- Mine with my dad would probably be anytime we rode motorcycles or four-wheelers together.

And I remember, one time, we were riding a four-wheeler, and of course, the one thing he wasn't allowed to do, he decided to do, which was a wheelie with me on it.

- Mm.

Mm-hmm.

- And of course, my mom was kind of yelling at him.

She was mad because she was like, "She could've got hurt."

And I was just like, "Well, it was fun."

I was young, though, so of course I was having fun.

- Yeah.

- And then with my grandma, it would be for part of the day, I would take my baby dolls, I would sit them in chairs, and then I would act like a teacher.

I'd be like teaching my grandma and all of them.

And even though I was like seven.

(Renier chuckles) I didn't even barely knew my ABCs and I was trying to teach them stuff.

(paper rustling) (paper rustling) - Hey, everyone.

(funky soul music) I'm "Hope Givers" reporter, Sofia Eraydin.

And today, we're gonna be asking people about peer support.

Let's go.

(funky soul music continues) (air whooshing) (Sofia knocking) So what do you think about peer support?

- I think peer support is pretty cool.

(both chuckling) - Hey.

So what does peer support mean to you?

- All my friends are here for me when I need them.

Like if I'm at my worst, then they're always talking to me and telling me, "Hey, it's gonna be okay."

Reminding me that I matter and that they're here for me, you know?

- Peer support, what it means to me is basically when my friends support me in and out of school, just helping me with my schoolwork that I missed, or I don't know, just in general, support with mentally and physically.

- When you hear peer support, what does that look like to you?

- When you have friends that are just there for you and just are there for you every step of the way and help you through hard things.

- All right, let's say you're in the library and you get help with your homework but from another student, that would be peer support.

- Say for instance, your friend is joining a team or a sport that they never done before.

Being there to support them whenever they're on competitions, showing how much you love them.

That's what peer support looks like to me.

- Show love, like give somebody a hug one day.

Give somebody a kiss.

They need it.

You never know what somebody going through, for real.

- Can I give you a hug?

- Do you want a hug?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

(bright music) - [Sofia] Peer support.

(paper rustling) (funky soul music continues) (paper rustling) - Introducing one of our "Youth Across America" filmmakers, Kaleb Johnson, with his film, "Hope in the Face of Grief."

(energetic hip-hop music) (static crackling) - My name is Kaleb Johnson.

(gentle piano music) And in my junior year, my world broke when I found out that my mom passed away one Sunday morning in late April.

It was not only unexpected, but insane, surreal, and entirely hopeless.

Gone was a person who, despite her illness, persevered and made sure that I knew that I had to as well.

For a long time, I poured into work, school, drugs, and other things I am not proud of to ha, not handle, ignore the grief, so my sister and my brother had somebody to lean onto.

That, I didn't actually do a very good job of.

(gentle piano music continues) I felt hopeless, alone, and broken.

Through the help of friends and family, as well as some much-needed therapy, I remembered what my mom had taught me.

In life, I knew her to be pessimistic at times.

No matter if she framed it as a glass half full situation or a glass half empty, I knew that I had a future, a bright one, whether she got to see it or not.

I'm working on remembering that, still working on it, (upbeat rock music) that our futures are bright, even if those we lost along the way don't get to see them.

And I guess that's hope in the face of grief.

(paper rustling) - I admire about my dad his heart.

I admire how he was a family person.

He would get me on Christmas.

He would get me on some holidays.

And me and my brother would go with him and hang out as like a family.

He had a good, big heart.

- I would have to say I admire most about my stepdad was he stepped up for me when my actual dad wasn't there at the time.

He basically raised me and took care of me.

And my actual dad, when I did get to meet him, he was a very respectful guy.

And he basically told me how he was young and immature, and how he wants to build a relationship with me.

And I really respect him for that.

And my granddad, I have to say he was just a very, 'cause he used to be in the military, so he was a very strict and honest person.

- Everyone loved my dad and he was this amazing person.

People would ask, "Who's your kid?"

And my grandparents would be like, "Adam Greenberg is our son."

And they'd be like, "That's your son?

That's amazing.

I love him."

He always tried to help out.

He was the nicest guy.

- What about you, Tristan?

How would you describe your brother?

- Well, my brother, he was funny.

He has a sense of humor.

- Did you guys ever feel that you have had to grow up faster because of having someone die?

- [Kryssy] Mm-hmm.

- Yes.

- Mm-hmm.

At first, it was a lot of weight on my shoulders 'cause I thought I had to do everything on my own and just take care of everyone by myself.

- Did you feel like you just couldn't anymore?

You just had it so bottled up in you?

Did you get to that point?

- Yeah, there were a couple times I got to that point.

Like there was a point at school where I had just broke down.

Everything was just happening so fast.

And well, my actual chorus teacher, he helped me out.

He took me in a room, he let me sit there, and just be calm in silence, and I was able to get better, and I really thank him for that.

- What about you, Kryssy?

Did you ever feel that you had to hide your emotions?

And who helped you?

- Yeah, like two times, or a couple times, actually.

First, it was in fifth grade when it actually happened.

I think a picture of lightning showed up in art class and I had a panic attack.

And I really just, I had my counselor to help me.

I stayed in her room.

Or like when I felt like I would have them things, I went in her room, she would give me a coloring book, and I'd chill in there.

And then sixth grade during quarantine was when everything was like so overwhelming 'cause a new pandemic.

- [Renier] Mm-hmm.

- You gotta wear masks.

We had to stay inside the house.

So it was like I was gonna bottle up, I bottled up my feelings.

I didn't tell my mom.

I didn't talk to my mom.

I didn't talk to anybody 'cause COVID was like everything was so off in the world and everything was like about COVID.

- With my school, we have this club which is all about mental health, but and I mean, we have a lot of people that join it, but I feel like if they made an actual period of time throughout the day, doesn't matter when it is, but like a period of time where they added in maybe a short class or something that is basically all about mental health, I feel like that would do so good because, I mean, not everybody can join an after-school club.

Not everybody has a ride to get to and from school like that.

- Mm-hmm.

- And I mean, people have sports.

They can't always just join a club and be able to do it.

Everybody, at least at my school, they kinda just take it as a joke, 'cause whenever they talk about it, I mean, most of the time, they're talking about it like people that have mental health issues are lower than everybody else and need this some sort of like special help.

And we're just like, we're normal people.

We just have different issues going on in our lives.

(paper rustling) (mellow hip-hop music) (paper rustling) - Hey, Hope Givers.

I'm in the loft with my friend, Isaiah, and he's gonna tell us about journaling.

- Hi, I'm Isaiah.

I would like to say about things I like about journaling.

Journaling is a great way to express yourself in ways you may not be able to say or wanna tell other people, way to express yourself, what you're feeling, if you're sad, happy, pretty much anything you wanna jot down in your notebook.

I'm big into music and lyrics, so that's something I like to do.

♪ Turn your words into music ♪ Just have fun with it, you know?

Music is definitely a family passion of mine.

My dad was in a band in college and my mom also dabbled in singing as well as acting.

I actually got into journaling because of her.

She passed away a few months ago and that's been really hard (gentle music) on my family.

I found journaling really easy to express myself in different ways.

Like I said, I like turning words into music.

(Jordan and Isaiah chuckling) Poems, everything, I like to jot down.

The best way I like to remind myself of her is I actually have her ring on my chain here, and it just helps me think about her, like when I'm nervous.

A few months ago, I took my learner's permit.

- Congratulations.

- Thank you.

(Jordan laughs) - I did not pass the first few times.

But when my mom wasn't there, I just clutched my necklace, and I think about her, and it really helps me get through stressful moments.

- I love that, even when life gives you all this hard stuff to deal with, you can still find a really healthy way to cope with it and really creative with your music and your writing.

- Thank you.

- Thanks for sharing.

- No problem.

- How about you try it out, Hope Givers?

(gentle music continues) (paper rustling) (paper rustling) - [Producer] What's your brother's name?

- Hayden.

And his birthday is tomorrow.

- [Producer] So I heard that you and Hayden were best friends.

- Yes.

- [Producer] What was it like being best friends with Hayden?

- I just don't think about anything like that, going through tough times.

- [Producer] Is there anybody that you like that supports you through the tough times?

- Therapy.

- School counselors have always been a really big help for me.

When I lost my dad, if I felt really sad, I would go to the counselor's office and play with Play-Doh.

I don't know how exactly it helped me, but it calmed me down.

- Well, I try to meditate every day.

My life changed through meditation by, 'cause I used to have anger issues, and me meditating made me realize that I could be the bigger person and not lose my temper as much as I used to.

- My friend's dad has passed away when she was younger, so I talk to her about some stuff, and my brothers.

I only talked to them because they actually experienced it hands-on with me, so they experienced different stages of grief.

- I play soccer and that's kind of the therapy I do.

That's how I let everything out.

- Well, soccer's a really good one because you're running around for 90 minutes and- - Yeah, like running around, being aggressive.

And it's my way of, I guess, letting my emotions out when I can't talk to somebody.

- Mm-hmm.

What would you say to a friend that's grieving?

- I would probably say, "I know how you feel.

I've been there.

It feels horrible right now, but I promise you it's gonna get better."

- I would say, "Get therapy as quick as you can 'cause I promise you it will help."

That's my opinion 'cause it's helped me a lot in open up more and be able to talk to people more.

- One of my favorite things to do is, my aunt, she used to bake, and I like to use the same cake mix that she makes.

What's something that you guys do to keep the memory?

- With my grandma, we used to... She, I say taught, but she didn't really teach me how to bake muffins.

And it was like blueberry muffins, but it came in a bag, and of course, you could just read the directions.

- So easy.

- But I was young, so I was like, "Oh, she's teaching me how to make muffins."

So honestly, anytime I make muffins now, that's the first thing I think of.

I'm like, "Oh, these muffins are definitely from my grandma right now.

These are some good muffins."

- What about you?

- I try and be nice to people.

- [Renier] Mm-hmm.

- Which my dad, he would do whatever he could to be nice, to try and include people.

He really was just an amazing person, and I try and be as much like him as I can.

- Yeah, for my dad, it's actually basketball, and that relates to both my stepdad and my dad because they was always supportive of me playing.

- With me, my dad, stepdad, and granddad, I would have to say respecting people and treating people how they wanna be treated 'cause they were all very respectful and stand-up men and they always knew how to treat people.

Even if they were being badly treated, they still were humble and didn't get out of character and showed the respect that they wanted to be treated to them.

(paper rustling) (paper rustling) - What's up, guys?

It's "Hope Givers" reporter, (funky jazz music) Dottie.

And today's word on the street is peer support.

And what better way to talk about peer support than with a team?

I'm here with the track team, and let's go see what they have to say.

I'm here with?

- Hunter.

- What does peer support look like for you?

- Support from everybody.

Everybody pushing themselves to be better and helping each other along the way.

Just dragging them with them kinda thing.

- I'm here with?

- Dashia.

- And what does peer support look like for you?

- It's very important.

Like if my friends support me, and my mama, and all my teachers, I feel like I can keep pushing in anything that I do.

- Who would you say your biggest supporters are and how would you say they support you?

- My mama.

Before every race, she makes sure she tell me, "Good luck."

And after every race, she'll post me on social media.

- Okay, I'm here with?

- Nahvie.

- And what does peer support look like for you?

- I'd say when your peers feel down and you support them to get back up.

You push them beyond their limits.

- Who would you say that your biggest supporters are?

- My brother, my friends.

- I'm here with?

- Sirmarion.

- And what does peer support look like for you?

- To me, it's like when my friends, like they push me to go harder when I'm not going harder.

When they know I can do even better, they motivate me.

They know I can do it, so I get the job done.

- Who would you say your biggest supporters are?

- My biggest supporters, my team.

They push me to go hard every track meet.

That's why we always win.

We trying to get a ring this year.

- I don't think I'm supposed to be sitting right here, like in the middle of the track.

But anyway, I really enjoyed hearing about all the peer support that the track team has.

And I hope that you can find something similar, if not better, in your life.

And this has been "Hope Givers" reporter, Dottie, and I'm gonna head out.

(paper rustling) (funky jazz music continues) (paper rustling) - Up next is "Youth Across America" filmmaker, Hunter Crabtree, with his film, "Grief Changes."

(remote clicks) (mellow music) - "Grief changes shape, but it never ends."

This quote always really stuck with me, 'cause the more I think about it, the more that I realize that it's right.

Growing up as a kid, I always had to experience grief, but the biggest hitter for me was October, 2015, on Halloween.

A day before I was supposed to turn 11, I lost my mom to heart failure.

And that took over my life, that grief, that feeling of what happened, that feeling that it was my fault what happened, even though it wasn't, that feeling of sad, of being alone, until I reached high school where I decided that enough was enough.

And instead of being sad and instead of using that to bog me down, I decided to use it to help me.

I got enrolled into these massive programs, like band and audio-video that taught me how to express myself and how to be creative with the abilities that I had.

In band, I was able to express myself with music.

I was able to make amazing memories and I had made great friends.

Audio-video did the same thing.

It taught me that I'm able to express myself through these videos.

I can push different emotions and I can put that into people.

And now my biggest goal is to help kids who have had to go through what I've had to go through 'cause it's not fun and no one should have to go through it.

And at the end of the day, I wouldn't wish that on anybody.

(paper rustling) - I wanna go to college for basketball.

I would wanna go to Duke.

It's one of my top schools for basketball.

And I know it's hard to get in, and that just challenges me more to achieve the goal to get into Duke.

- I'm majoring in chorus as of right now, but the career I want to pursue is football.

That's what I'm playing currently, but I don't want to let singing go.

I would have to say my main career is to at least try to make it to the NFL.

♪ Hang all the mistletoe ♪ ♪ I'm gonna get to know you better ♪ - I wanna possibly double major in music theory and computer science.

And I wanna go to Georgia Tech and/or UGA.

Well, I will be a scientist and an artist.

- [Producer] How cool is that?

- It's gonna be very cool.

- [Producer] Do you wanna share with us your favorite flags?

- Yes.

- [Producer] Okay.

- Vietnam.

China.

- [Producer] What do you like about the flags?

- That they have the same color, yellow and red.

- I'd like to be an elementary teacher.

I love kids more than anything.

I have a niece, and I love my niece.

I love any type of kids.

They're just all amazing to me.

And my elementary teachers were great people, and I'd love to be just like them and do it.

- So Donta, in one word, how would you describe yourself?

- I would say generous because I'm very kind to people and try to lift people up when they're in bad spirits.

So I'd say generous.

- How about you, Kryssy?

- Open-minded.

Just like a lot of things, I'm open to.

- Probably flexible, not physically, but mentally, I'm able to take stuff and still be able to do what I need to do.

And I also try and take that with other people where I am able to change what I'm doing to help them.

- I would honestly describe myself the same way that I describe my dad and my grandma, saying loving, because I mean, no matter what, I accept everybody.

It doesn't matter who you are, what you do, what you say, I don't care.

I'm gonna accept everybody and I'm gonna respect them the same way.

- What about you, Tristan?

- I describe myself as funny when I look at anything that's funny, like my brother did.

- So guys, I'm gonna do this one last thing.

What does hope mean to you guys?

- To me, hope means you know that eventually there's gonna be something good happen you'll be able to be very, very thankful for.

- I feel like hope is being able to, kinda like what Jenna said, but optimistic, like knowing that something good will happen.

Like from this, I will grow.

- What about you, Kryssy?

What does hope mean to you?

- Like believing in something, believing in yourself, knowing that you're gonna have a better outcome than what you started in.

- [Donta] I'd have to say hope means that you have a chance at something or you believe that something magical will happen.

- Thank you so much for watching "Hope Givers."

I'm Renier, your host, and this was our roundtable.

♪ Ooh, ah ♪ (upbeat pop music) ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Ah ♪ (gentle music) - We wanna thank you for such an amazing season of "Hope Givers."

And remember, stay hopeful.

(gentle music continues) ♪ Big love ahead ♪ ♪ Mountaintops you'll scale ♪ ♪ Big love ahead ♪ ♪ Mountaintops you'll scale ♪ ♪ Big love ahead ♪ ♪ Mountaintops you'll scale ♪ ♪ Big love ahead ♪ ♪ Mountaintops you'll scale ♪ (gentle music continues) ♪ And you thought that ♪ you didn't deserve it ♪ ♪ Well, you're wrong ♪ ♪ And you've got so ♪ much on your shoulders ♪ ♪ Stay strong ♪ ♪ And you thought that ♪ you didn't deserve it ♪ ♪ Well, you're wrong ♪ ♪ And you've got so ♪ much on your shoulders ♪ ♪ Stay strong ♪ ♪ Big love ahead ♪ ♪ Mountaintops you'll scale ♪ ♪ Big love ahead ♪ ♪ Mountaintops you'll scale ♪ (gentle music continues) ♪ I saw you smile for the first time ♪ ♪ And I hope it lasts a while now ♪ ♪ If you fall, I'll catch you ♪ ♪ You've been lost in a canyon ♪ ♪ Big love ♪ ♪ Big love ♪ ♪ Big love ahead ♪ ♪ Mountaintops you'll scale ♪ ♪ Big love ahead ♪ ♪ Mountaintops you'll scale ♪ ♪ Oh, big love ahead ♪ ♪ Mountaintops you'll scale ♪ ♪ Big love ahead ♪ ♪ Mountaintops you'll scale ♪ ♪ Mm, you'll scale ♪ (gentle music continues)