Grief is a powerful, natural response to the loss of a loved one that can devastate when left unaddressed. As the world continues turning faster and faster, it’s becoming more difficult for people of all ages and walks of life to have a moment to process significant losses and accompanying emotions or even begin the grieving process.
“We are currently in a society that has forgotten how to grieve and how to provide grief support,” Lisa Casimer, Phoenix Center for Grief coordinator, said. “We're seeing a lot of destructive, repressive behavior. People need to remember that, if there's not a place for sadness to be expressed in the world, it's going to come out in anger or in other destructive ways.”
In an effort to create safe, welcoming environments where those experiencing grief can receive peer-based, educational support, VNA Hospice NWI has expanded its grief support programs. This includes an expansion of the programming at the Phoenix Center for Grief to now include adults and the introduction of a Caregiver Support Group open to any and all caregivers.
The Phoenix Center for Grief offers a variety of free grief support programming for both children and adults. The center has always offered a grief support group for younger children and middle schoolers that meet every other Wednesday as well as a group for teens and young adults that meet every other Monday. Additionally, the parents of the Wednesday group are given the opportunity to connect and discuss their losses while their children do the same. With its expansion, the Phoenix Center is now working to establish more support groups in the communities that need them most.
“We want to expand into the marginalized areas in urban area as well as rural settings. We've started with a four-week grief support series for adults in Morocco at the Newton County Community Services building, and we're currently in conversations with the Gary Community Schools Corporation, seeking to set up groups there,” Casimer said.
The Phoenix Center has introduced two new groups for adults as part of the expansion. The First Friday Club meets the first Friday of the month from November through March, and Walking Together Through Grief meets every Tuesday evening through the month of April and beginning of May. Both programs are geared towards helping adults who have experienced a significant loss, work through their grief in meaningful, effective ways.
VNA Hospice NWI also recognizes how caregivers of all kinds can be overwhelmed by caring for a loved one. When these feelings begin to well up, caregivers can turn to Occupational Therapist and Hospice Volunteer Katie Zromkoski’s Caregiver Support Group.
“Caregiver support is very related to grief,” she said. “As someone takes on a caregiving role, they can suddenly feel very isolated because a lot of their life is rerouted, spending most of their time caring for another person. The first thing this support group does is just create a space for caregivers to set aside time to sit down and be with others.”
In addition to providing this opportunity to recharge, the group provides caregivers an opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences, an invaluable resource, especially for those new to the role.
“After a person has something significant happen – an accident, serious illness, injury – so much responsibility is put on the caregiver, and they have to learn so much,” Zromkoski said. “They need support to cope with that, but they also need resources. The benefit of it being a group specifically for caregivers is that the people who come have similar experiences, so they can support each other not just by having the time to be social and engage in something that isn't caregiving. They're also able to share stories and support each other through their conversations.”
Those interested in learning more about the caregiver support group can visit the VNA website, contact Zromkoski directly at (219) 983-2687 or via email at kzromkoski@vnanwi.org. Readers interested in the Phoenix Center for Grief can visit the center’s webpage, call (219) 462-5195, or email griefsupport@vnanwi.org.
“If grief doesn't come out in a positive way, it's going to come out in a negative way,” Casimer said. “This is about creating a safer, kinder world; I don’t think we’ve ever needed that more.”
The VNA Hospice of Northwest Indiana preserves dignity in aging by helping seniors remain in their homes and in charge of their healthcare decisions for as long as possible. We provide hospice and palliative care, Meals on Wheels of Porter County, the Medical Guardian help button, the Phoenix Center for Grief, and a We Honor Veterans Program to all of Lake, Porter, Starke, Jasper, La Porte, and Newton counties. To learn more about the services it offers or how to become involved as a volunteer, visit vnanwi.org.
