NEW YORK - In the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks, the Open Society Institute, part of the Soros Foundations Network, today launched two web resources to aid a grieving nation. One provides an outlet for youth perspectives and reactions in the aftermath of the tragedy and the other is a grief, bereavement and trauma resource guide for adults and children.

The Youth Media Website (http://www.soros.org/youth/pointofview.htm) culled numerous and diverse reactions from young people across the country. The youth media websites are by and for young people, offering articles and personal accounts of the tragedy, as a way of exposing their views to both youth and adult audiences.

“By the time I got to school I was nearly in tears… [and] was disgusted by people who tried to brush this away,” writes Tory, 16, for LA Youth, a bi-monthly newspaper written by and about teens that reaches more than 300,000 students in the greater Los Angeles area. “Just because we weren't there doesn't mean we have no responsibility toward it!”

“In these extraordinary times it is important to include young people's thoughts, reactions and perspectives on the terrorist attacks in the public discourse,” said Erlin Ibreck, Director of the Youth Initiatives Program at OSI, which sponsors the youth media site. “Giving young people, particularly less advantaged youth, a forum to report on their world and their experiences is at the heart of OSI’s Youth Media Program.”

OSI’s Project on Death in America also launched a special web resource <http://www.soros.org/death/new.htm> offering grief, bereavement, and trauma resources for both professionals and the general public.

The site includes links to materials, organizations, curriculum support, ideas, and guides to aid parents, teachers, and caregivers as they help children and teens cope with the events of September 11th. The site provides resources for adults and perspectives on the recovery effort from the nonprofit and medical communities.

“Right now, we need to provide sustained psychosocial support of the families and survivors of the September 11th tragedy,” said Dr. Kathy Foley, Director of OSI’s Project on Death in America. “In the long term, our society needs to prioritize and fund a strategy to meet the mental health needs of individuals and communities as they cope with loss, grief, and bereavement.”

The PDIA website's general links page provides additional information on hospice, consumer information, materials for caregivers, and resources on grief and bereavement to raise public awareness about death and dying and to provide information about the many individuals and organizations working to improve the care of the dying and their families.

Note to reporters: interviews and contact information for the youth media organizations and their young journalists are available by contacting Amy Weil at 212-548-0381, aweil@sorosny.org.

The Open Society Institute, a private operating and grantmaking foundation, is part of the network of foundations, created and funded by George Soros, active in more than 50 countries around the world.

OSI 's U.S. Programs seek to strengthen democracy in the United States by addressing barriers to opportunity and justice, broadening public discussion about such barriers, and assisting marginalized groups to participate equally in civil society and to make their voices heard. OSI U.S. Programs challenges over-reliance on the market by advocating appropriate government responsibility for human needs and promoting public interest and service values in law, medicine, and the media, by supporting initiatives in a range of areas.

These areas include access to justice for low and moderate income people; judicial independence; ending the death penalty; reducing gun violence and over-reliance on incarceration; drug policy reform; inner-city education and youth programs; fair treatment of immigrants; reproductive health and choice; campaign finance reform; and improved care of the dying.