Loss of Parent

The majority of us will experience the loss of a parent at some point in our lives. It is a “rite of passage” that follows the normal course of a lifespan. That doesn’t make it easy or “lighter” on the scale of grief. In fact, losing a parent or caregiver can tear us at the core, because in some cases, that is our original source of life and love.

Some of us never get to meet our parents. Others have a parent in their lives for a short time. Some get to see their parents live to a ripe old age. Whatever the situation, it can come with it’s own host of joy and pain.

Online Resources:

SUPPORT GROUPS

UC Davis

916-734-1139

Program for Young Adults (ages 17-24)

Kaiser

916-486-5300

Bereavement Support Group
Ongoing

Grief Share Support Group

Capital City Baptist: Jeanne Hodge

COUNSELING:

Grief Recovery Method

916-764-3062

Host: Heather Brooks

Creekside Counseling Associates of Elk Grove

creeksidetherapists.com

916-685-5258

A Place Within Counseling – Folsom

www.theplacewithinfolsom.com

Local School Site:

Ask your local school site if the school-based mental health team is able to provide short-term individual or group counseling support for grief/loss.

Drop in Groups:

Child’s Bereavement Art Therapy (ages 4-16)

www.checksutterfirst.org

916-454-6555

For loss within the past year: 3-6 month waiting period

Bereavement Outreach Meetings (open to the public)

www.griefhelpsacramento.com

Education 1st and 3rd weeks of the month
Sharing groups 2nd, 4th, and 5th weeks of the month
7:30-9pm

Sutter Grief Support

www.suttercareathome.org

916-388-6215 or 916-388-6255

Sutter Center for Psychiatry

www.griefhelpsacramento.com

7700 Folsom Blvd. Sac

Activities

Camp Hope

www.camphopeca.com

The Breathing Space

www.ourbreathingspace.com

Guided Meditation – Jill Weston
916-201-3335

Full of Hope Yoga

Certified Trauma Recovery with Karen Penfold.

https://fullofhope.newzenler.com/

Guide To Coping with Grief Article

https://www.avasflowers.net/a-guide-to-grief-stages-of-grief-coping-tips-sympathy-flowers-and

*Family Lives On makes it possible for children and teens, ages 3-18, whose mother or father has died, to continue traditions, or family activities, that they used to celebrate with their deceased parent, EVERY year until they turn 18. Parents embrace the Tradition Program because its family based and truly child focused. Children and teens embrace it because they get to select which tradition they want to continue (and are excited about doing so!). The average child chooses to remain in our program for 7.2 years.

Services are provided at no cost to the family and available anywhere in the United States.

Family Lives On

PO Box 494

Lionville, PA 19353

(610) 458-1690

www.familyliveson.org

Loss of Spouse

We must allow ourselves to grieve, and we all grieve in different ways, for various lengths of time.

Online Resources

Daily Strength - for Widows and Widowers

www.dailystrength.org

Soaring Spirits

https://soaringspirits.org/

Online Grief Support

www.onlinegriefsupport.com

meet-up Groups

Soaring Spirits Widow-Widower Regional Group-Elk Grove/Sacramento
Soaring Spirits provides widowed people with the chance to meet socially, and to create a local community of widowed friends through our Regional Social Group program. Groups are led by our awesome volunteer facilitators who plan meetings twice a month in their geographical area.

Regional Social Events for Soaring Spirits HERE.

Click on Events to see local upcoming meet-ups. Additional link for meet-ups HERE

Widows and Widowers: Healing, Support and Education (Meet Up)

https://www.meetup.com/young-widows-and-widowers-Group/

Widows and Widowers - Healing, Support, and Education (Facebook)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1020 380538094 055/

Young Widows and Widowers (Facebook)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/youngwid owed/

Widows and Widowers, All welcomed (Facebook)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3477 95365429216/

The Grief Toolbox (Facebook)

https://www.facebook.com/grieft oolbox/

Grief The Unspoken (Facebook)

https://www.facebook.com/AngieGriefTh eUnspoken/

Support Groups

Widowed Persons Association of California

Sacramento (916) 972-9722

Auburn: Gerrie Anello (530) 885-4752

Roseville: Mary Kingsley (916) 791-0843

Social and Support groups. “Resolving Grief” program and support meetings are open to non-members.
(Contact to see availability during COVID.)

River City Christian Church-Griefshare Group

www.rivercitychristian.org

13 week Session
Sign-Up with pmiguel@rivercitychristian.org or (916) 861-2240 x624

Loss of Child

“Healing does not mean forgetting, because moving on with life does not mean that we don’t take a part of our lost loved one with us.” ~ Adolfo Quezada

ONline Resources

The Compassionate Friends

www.compassionatefriends.org

The mission of The Compassionate Friends: When a child dies, at any age, the family suffers intense pain and may feel hopeless and isolated. The Compassionate Friends provides highly personal comfort, hope, and support to every family experiencing the death of a son or a daughter, a brother or a sister, or a grandchild, and helps others better assist the grieving family.

New Hope’s Mission is to help bereaved children & families find hope, healing and a community to connect with.

MISS Foundation

www.missfoundation.org

The MISS Foundation is an international 501c3, volunteer based organization providing C.A.R.E. [counseling, advocacy, research, and education] services to families experiencing the death of a child.

Open To Hope Foundation

www.opentohope.com

Provides an online forum to support people who have experienced loss, helping them to cope with their pain, heal their grief, and invest in their future.

The Bereaved Parents

www.bereavedparentsusa.org

To offer support, understanding, encouragement and hope to other bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents after the death of their children, brother, sister or grandchildren.

Support Groups

Compassionate Friends

916-457-4096

sacvalleytcf@yahoo.com

Bereavement support for parents who have lost a child. Newsletter, telephone support, monthly meetings.

3rd Friday from 7:00 - 9:30 pm.

South Natomas Community Center, 2921 Truxel Rd, Sacramento, 95822

Small group available.

Beth Oliver 916-284-9540
Lilian Adams 916-726-6844
Pamela Amo 916-955-3180

Compassionate Friends, Davis

530-759-7865

Sharing Parents

916-424-5150

sharingparents@yahoo.com

Support group for those whose babies have died from the time of conception through early infancy.

Newsletter 6x yearly.
2nd Sunday, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Mercy Women's Center, 650 Howe, Ave., Ste. 530
Call for directions.

SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)

877-938-7437

SIDS Alliance of Northern California
Support groups and information.

Hospice North Coast

hospicenorthcoast.org

Activities

Okizu

okizu.org

The mission of Okizu is to provide peer support, respite, mentoring, and recreational programs to meet the needs of all members of families affected by childhood cancer.

New Hope Family Camp

www.newhopegrief.org

New Hope Family camps and retreats are designed for all types of families, not just the traditional. It’s for families who have experienced the death of a loved one, and each family member is encouraged to attend. In a safe and supportive environment families explore their loss with other families touched by grief.

Loss Through Suicide

Suicide leaves those who are touched by it with a unique kind of grief, filled with unanswered questions, stigma from those who don’t understand, and sometimes immense guilt. More than 800,000 people die by suicide each year.

Loss Through Suicide

Suicide is a unique form of loss. For many survivors the grief is complicated by questions of responsibility, missed opportunities to help, and profound guilt. In addition there is the societal and sometimes religious stigma that surrounds suicide. Close friends and family may not understand their loved one’s decision to end his or her life, and may have feelings of anger and confusion. Survivors are faced with the challenge of how much to share and with whom. Talking to children about the loss of a loved one by suicide is particularly complicated. This page will hopefully help as you work through these intricacies.

Online Resources

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

afsp.org

Friends for Survival: A National Outreach and Support Organization for those affected by a suicide death

www.friendsforsurvival.org

Support Groups

(Please note that during covid, many groups are meeting via zoom)

https://friendsforsurvival.org/meetings

www.allianceofhope.org

Suicide: Finding Hope

www.suicidefindinghope.com

Our Side of Suicide

www.oursideofsuicide.com

Suicide is Preventable

www.suicideispreventable.org

Each Mind Matters

www.eachmindmatters.org

Mental Health America

www.bit.ly/1HNmHLL to access local support groups

Talking to Children about Suicide

Link to PDF

The Hello Fund

Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention

https://www.hellofund.org/

Support Groups

California Suicide Support Groups

www.suicide.org/support-groups

Grief Share Support Groups

www.griefshare.org

Activities

Survivor Day-global day of remembrance

afsp.org

Out of the Darkness Walks

afsp.donordrive.com

Creative remembrances

healgrief.org (to create an on-line memorial)

loveliveson.com (coping with holidays)

funeralzone.com.au (various ceremonies)

www.stardust-memorials.com (memorial jewelry with ashes)

www.jillianbdesigns.com (custom hand-stamped memorial jewelry)

crisis hotlines

National Suicide Prevention Hotline 24-hours

suicidepreventionlifeline.org

1-800-273 TALK (8255)

Crisis Text Line: text TALK to 741741

The Trevor Project- Support for LGBTQ youth

www.thetrevorproject.org

1-866-488-7386

Suicide Loss Help Line

1-800-646-7322

PFLAG

WWW.PFLAGSACRAMENTO.ORG

(916) 978-0410

Loss Through Miscarriage

Miscarriage, stillbirth + Early Infant Death

The moment you learn you are pregnant, life changes. You immediately start wondering, planning, worrying, and dreaming about this unique life that is just starting to form. Days go by, then weeks. If you’re lucky, you see the heartbeat, luckier still, you hear it. But what happens when out of nowhere that precious heartbeat that you’ve already grown to love just . . . stops? Life changes forever. You are now part of a club you never wanted to join. A club that only those who have experienced it can truly know. You are now a Baby Loss Mom. Whether you had an early miscarriage, a stillbirth, or the early death of an infant, your baby mattered. Your baby was alive, and then wasn’t. The resources below have been carefully collected to help you figure out how to go on from here.