Free Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Group — Owensboro | GRADD
This free monthly support group serves grandparents and older relative caregivers who are raising children in Western Kentucky. It is hosted by the Green River Area Development District (GRADD) as part of the National Family Caregiver Support Program, which extends beyond eldercare to recognize a second, growing group of unpaid caregivers: grandparents and other older relatives who have become the primary parent to a child in their family.
What to Expect The group meets at the O.M.S. South / 5-6 Center, 2631 South Griffith Avenue, Owensboro, Kentucky, on the last Thursday of each month from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. The evening time slot is a practical choice for caregivers managing school schedules and after-school care. Conversation covers what this role actually demands — school enrollment and IEP meetings, custody and guardianship paperwork, health coverage for the child, discipline and boundary-setting a generation later, and the grief and family strain that often sit underneath the arrangement. Through the wider GRADD program, participants can also access counseling, training, respite coordination, and grandparent assistance funds for clothing, toiletries, and school supplies.
Who This Group Is For The group is for grandparents, step-grandparents, and other older relative caregivers age 55 and older who are the primary caregiver for a child up to age 18. Eligibility for the associated grandparent assistance services requires that the caregiver live with the child, be the primary caregiver, and have a legal relationship such as custody or guardianship — but the support group itself is open to relative caregivers across the seven-county Green River region who need company and information.
Why Peer Support Works Grandparents raising grandchildren occupy an unusual position: they are parenting again, often unexpectedly, frequently under difficult family circumstances, and typically without the peer network that younger parents have. Many report feeling out of step at school events and unsupported by systems designed around a different kind of household. A room of people in the same position corrects that immediately. Peers share the specific procedural knowledge this role requires — how a particular school handles guardianship documentation, which local supports exist — alongside the harder emotional work of holding both love for the grandchild and grief about how the arrangement came to be.
How to Join The group is free to attend. It meets on the last Thursday of each month from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the O.M.S. South / 5-6 Center, 2631 South Griffith Avenue, Owensboro, KY. For more information, contact Amanda Hirtz at 270-686-1159. General caregiver program questions can be directed to the GRADD Area Agency on Aging at 1-800-928-9094, or visit gradd.com for details on counseling, training, respite, and grandparent assistance services.