The Chatham-Kent Hospice is branching out to help families and individuals throughout the community.
A recent grant is allowing the hospice to start its first ever Wellness Program, which will incorporate several initiatives to help people heal from complex grief.
Program Coordinator Caress Lee Carpenter says the first initiative will be a Grief Walk on May 6, to support those who have gone through infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, infant, and child loss.
"The reaction to that has been more than we could have imagined," she says. "We have over 50 registered so far for this Grief Walk, which just proves the need for it in the community and how under-serviced that specific population is."
Carpenter says other Grief Walks that will happen later on this year will have a different focus. For example, the next one they have planned for June will be to support family loss.
"We have a bunch [of walks] already in the calendar ready to go and we just want to get participant feedback," she says. "The biggest thing about all of these piloted programs is we want to make sure that the community is receptive to them."
The first Grief Walk is scheduled for 2pm at the Salvation Army Church. The walk itself will be on the Rotary Eco Trail, also known as Paxton's Bush.
People are asked to register for the walk by contacting Carpenter at cleecarpenter@chatham-kenthospice.com or by calling (519) 354-3113 ext. 2406. However, those who forget to register or decide to attend the walk at the last-minute are still welcome.