Bereavement Program
Adjusting to life without a loved one can be difficult. We provide individual and group support for anyone grieving the death of someone they love.
No one can tell you how long or in what manner you “should” grieve, yet there are many commonalities among bereaved people. Those who suffer loss may experience guilt, restlessness, anger, or other strong feelings. Crying at unexpected times, forgetfulness, confusion, or loss of appetite are also normal expressions of grief. Understanding how others have dealt with these feelings can be of great assistance and help people understand grief as a normal process.
Bereavement support at Center for Solace is provided through individual one-to-one meetings with staff and highly trained volunteers. This provides a safe and confidential space for grief and all the emotions that can accompany it.
Support groups for various types of death losses are also available based on need (click here for a current list of ongoing groups). Support groups provide a safe, mutually supportive environment for sharing experiences related to grieving someone’s death.
Annual events like our Annual Service of Remembrance at our Memorial Garden in June (see below), and our Annual Lantern Walk in the fall, are wonderful public events to honor those who have died.
Contact the Bereavement Program Coordinator for information on our current offerings and to join a support group.
Memorial Garden
The Hospice Memorial Garden, located in Brattleboro’s Living Memorial Park, is open to the public and all are welcome to visit throughout the year. Community members may plant in the garden anytime during the summer or fall with the assistance of a garden volunteer.
Each spring we hold our Annual Service of Remembrance, when all members of the community are invited to plant in memory of their loved ones who have died. Local nurseries donate flowers for the event and we also invite participants at this memorial service to plant their own flowers that have special significance to them.
In Spring 2023, we added a Wind Phone to our Memorial Garden. A Wind Phone is physically connected to nowhere. It is a portal where you can speak privately to whomever you wish, alive or dead. Your words will be carried through the trees and on the wind to wherever you want them to go. Lift the receiver, dial whatever numbers you wish and turn a listening ear towards the thrumming mystery of connection. It could be final words spoken to a lost loved one, parting thoughts to an ex, a secret that refuses to be contained, or a simple shout of frustration or gratitude that would otherwise be held in. Our Wind Phone is located at the upper right of the garden, set away from the main area for privacy.
One of the only public gardens in Brattleboro, our memorial garden continues to expand and improve. If you have a few hours to spare, we are always in need of volunteers to help prepare the garden in spring and maintain it throughout the summer and fall. Contact our office at 802-257-0775 ext 104 for more information.
“I am extremely grateful for the support and guidance that my Bereavement Volunteer Suzanne has offered me. Her patient, soft, but intuitive awareness of the complicated process of grief has been an unexpected salve — a gentle touch to the raw wounds. I am so grateful that she has been able to hold my pain.”
~Mary Ann Holt