HeartLight Center offers a 4-week, curriculum-based, grief support group called Facing the Mourning. In addition, HeartLight Center offers Facilitator Training, so any organization can offer this 4-week group to people in their community. We have partnered with Summit County Coroner’s Office to train facilitators so they can offer this much-needed support in their community. Read a snippet of the article here:

“Building Hope, Summit County Coroner’s Office providing support following string of high-profile deaths”

The nonprofit provides scholarships for therapy and can connect community members with support groups, workshops and more

Read the full article here: https://www.summitdaily.com/news/building-hope-summit-county-coroners-office-providing-support-following-string-of-high-profile-deaths/

“Coroner’s office grief support group:
The Summit County Coroner’s Office started a grief support group after deputy coroner Britt Lea heard about the HeartLight Center, an organization that offers virtual support groups, among other resources.
One support group program, called Facing the Mourning, caught Lea’s attention.
“I started looking into it, and I saw that you could get certified as a facilitator and host your own group,” Lea said. “The light kind of came on, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! We can do this, and we can do this for free.’”
Lea said the popularity of the group through the first five rounds the coroner’s office has hosted has shown that Summit had a need for it. Each round has had a waitlist, she said, in part because the group size is limited to eight to 10 people.
“That dynamic is so powerful,” Lea said. “In these groups, you get to know the people that are in the group with you, and you become so close to them. … You start off being vulnerable right at the first meeting.”
The first round of the Face the Mourning support group had four sessions, but Lea said participants wanted to continue, so the coroner’s office has extended the rounds to five sessions.
“Our fifth session, we kind of turned into a reunion,” Lea said. “People will bring, like, potluck, and we’ll just check in with each other to make sure that we’re moving through our grief.”
Lea is working on a six-session structure to implement in the future. Funds raised from this year’s Coroner’s Ball, Oct. 18 at 10 Mile Music Hall, will help fund the expansion of the program. Tickets to the Coroner’s Ball are available for $25 on the county’s website.
Each session gives participants “homework” to do before the next meeting, Lea said. Examples include making a memorial to the person they are grieving, writing them a letter and journaling about them. Participants then share their work at the next session.
“You don’t have to participate if you don’t want to,” Lea said about doing and sharing the homework. “But you get so much more out of it if you actually do the exercises.”
The coroner’s office’s support group meets in person, which Lea said is beneficial for building connections between participants. It welcomes anyone experiencing grief, not just those grieving the death of a loved one.
“There was an individual whose wife has dementia,” Lea said. “He’s grieving the loss of this life that he thought that he was going to have.”
Facing the Mourning sessions are held on Tuesdays from 5:30 -7:30 p.m. at the Summit County Coroner’s Office in Frisco. Upcoming sessions start Sept. 9 and Oct. 7, and those interested can email Lea at [email protected] to register.”