Dec 123 min read

Looking Back...Looking Forward

By: Rev. Walt H. Windley, IV, MDiv, MHA, CISM, Sr. Director Spiritual Care and Grief Services

A person holding a heart made of snow if their gloved hands

VIA Health Partners has long believed and practiced the theory and principle that no one should have to journey through grief alone. We recognize and celebrate the gift of community, intentionally tailoring our offerings to not only educate fellow grievers and mourners in healthy coping skills and practices but to help reestablish bonds of connectivity and purpose through meaningful fellowship and positive interactions. For some, this may resemble one-on-one counseling sessions or a topic-specific workshop held around a holiday or special event. For others, life may be experienced in a walking grief group or breaking bread for the first time in a restaurant following the death of a spouse.

We often describe grief much like the tides of the sea, noting these bursts of feelings may come and go, often triggered in an illogical way that we can't fully control or even begin to plan.

It has been our privilege to walk with hospice survivors, families, and community clients since 1978, recognizing that you have gifted us with your presence, vulnerability, honesty, and rawness, allowing us to create a space of authenticity and compassion from which seeds of hope have been planted and grown. And as you have grown, we have grown right along side you. It has been our philosophy to lead with heart and a listening ear, changing organically to better meet your needs in a world that is constantly shifting both in environment and context, apart from assumptions and "false" realities. With that in mind, we are excited to share a few updates concerning our bereavement department's future!

First, we are re-working many of our groups to better suit your busy schedules. You will find times that are perhaps more convenient for those who still work full-time and loss-specific groups, like the loss of a parent or the loss of a spouse, that pull together individuals with "like losses" who often share context-specific feelings or thoughts. With the addition of virtual offerings, we hope to capture our clients who are unable to leave their respective offices during the day, that parent who is caring for a child in the home or the one who is no longer able to drive but longs for community connection and a time of processing.

Second, we celebrate the connection between movement and grief, recognizing a more holistic approach to engaging the senses allows one to mourn with his or her whole self. You will find the addition of "exercising your grieving heart" opportunities, a new music therapy grief workshop in Greenville, and the extension of expressive arts through a new partnership with Dr. Tyler Starr and the Katherine and Tom Belk Visual Arts Center at Davidson College. These opportunities build upon our already popular memory bear workshops and host of offerings during the holiday season.

Third, after celebrating 25 years of Chameleon's Journey Grief Camp for kids and adolescents, VIA Health Partners has launched a new plan for expansion. A spring day camp will be held on April 5 in Charlotte, followed by two fall camps - an overnight camp experience at Camp Thunderbird in Lake Wylie and a day camp in the heart of Greenville, SC. This comes on the heels of an inflated staffing model to better serve the individual counseling needs of our growing region.

You have spoken, and we are listening! And true to our history and heritage, our grief offerings remain completely free of charge to both hospice families and the community at large. We look forward to incorporating 45 years of learning into our future, walking alongside you like family.

We're here to support you - We listen. We support. We care. - Call or message us anytime!

For more information, call us anytime at 833.839.1113 or send us a message at www.viahp.org/contact-form. You may also check our Grief Support Event Calendar for upcoming support group meetings near you at www.viahp.org/grief-support-event-calendar.