Grief Education

“Death ends a life, not a relationship."
--Morrie Schwartz

Hope and Support

The Hospice of VNS Center for Loss and Hope staff is dedicated to offering encouraging support to adults and children who are grieving. Our goal is to be a caring presence and to instill hope to those who have experienced the death of a loved one. We offer bereavement services up to two years following the death of a loved one by qualified professionals. These services include but are not limited to providing appropriate literature that explains the grief process; the development of a bereavement plan of care that reflects the needs of the individual and/or family; and individual or group support programs. Bereavement services are offered to all members of the community at no charge.

Bereavement and Loss

Bereavement is the “loss of something valued.” Grief occurs as a result of feeling “torn apart” or “robbed” of what is valued. And mourning is the healing process that occurs as we adjust to our loss. J. William Worden proposes four tasks the grief stricken should accomplish on their journey of healing from a death loss.

• To Accept the Reality of the Loss
• To Work Through the Pain of Grief
• To Adjust to an Environment in Which the Deceased Is Missing
• To Emotionally Relocate the Deceased and Move on With Life

As you travel along the grief journey you may feel a gamut of emotions from numbness to rage, from disbelief to confusion and/or anger. These feelings and many more are a normal part of the grieving process.

• Understanding and Responding to Loss
• How to Help Someone Who is Grieving

Please visit our Grief Support Programs  page to learn how to gain support through the grief process.

If you’d like to receive more information about our Bereavement Support Program, please contact our Bereavement Coordinator, Rochelle Sheppard at 330-668-4662 or 1-800-335-1455, Ext. 4662.

Grief Brochures

• Coping with Grief
• Coping with the Holidays
• Children and the Grieving Process
• Transforming Grief Through Sandtray Therapy
• Men and the Mourning Process

Bereavement Newsletter 

• Winter 2013: My Brother’s Keeper
• Fall 2012: Reducing Holiday Stress
• Summer 2012: Grief: A Tangled Ball of Emotions...Grieving: A Process of Coping
• Winter 2012: Bereavement Support Groups: Sharing Grief, Gaining Strength
• Fall 2011: Holiday Time: A Time of Old and New
• Summer 2011: The Heart of Listening
• Spring 2011: Are Men from Mars and Women from Venus When Grieving?
• Winter 2011 - Grief and Resilience: Finding the Turning Point

Would you like to be added to the mailing list or receive a past issue of Bereavement Support? Email Kelly Ward-Smith, Media & PR Specialist, at kelly.wardsmith@akrongeneral.org.