About SLAP'D

MISSION

SLAP’D aspires to provide teens who have lost a parent with an online community of support to help ensure that they are not alone, to inspire hope, and to provide them with important resources throughout the grieving process.

ABOUT

Surviving Life After a Parent Dies (SLAP’D) was founded in 2013 by the then 13-year-old Genevieve Liu after the sudden loss of her father Donald C. Liu. SLAP’D exists as a social media site for teens 13 and older (or younger than 13 with adult supervision) who have lost a parent to find hope and connection through shared experiences, and aims to ensure that no teen ever has to experience their grief alone. SLAP’D offers our users articles, advice forums, an ask-an-expert column staffed by bereavement professionals, and connections to other resources for grieving kids and teens. SLAP’D has also built partnerships with grief and bereavement centers and organizations nationwide to expand our reach and ensure that our resources for support and healing are reaching those who need us most.

OUR STORY

Genevieve family

After the death of her father, our founder, Genevieve Liu, felt alone in a community where she had always felt at home. Despite the help her friends and family tried to provide, she felt as if she was the only person who had ever lost a parent at a young age. That was, until she reconnected with a friend who had lost her mother to cancer in the fifth grade. Finally, there was someone who she felt understood the incredible range of feelings that came along with losing a parent at a young age.

She began searching online for forums or networks centered on parental loss in an attempt to find the type of support and connection she had with Isabel. Unfortunately, there were only religious and medical options. However, instead of stopping there, she set out to create the kind of platform she searched so hard to find. Five years after their father’s death, Genevieve’s brother, Asher, is taking on a leadership position in the organization as she attends her freshman year at college.

As a result, the organization now called SLAP’D (Surviving Life After a Parent Dies, SLAPD.com) was born. It is a place where kids and teens can come together to provide support to each other and find resources to help them throughout the grieving process. This kind of community can truly make the difference when coping with parent loss. SLAP’D strives to be a place where a child can come when they need help answering the questions no one else can answer, and in turn, help them grow into a resource to help others in the future.