Stillwater Hospice has a grief support group for those in the LGBTQ+ community, offering a safe, affirming space to open up about the challenges of loss. But those who need it may not know it’s there.
The group was started in 2022, following the opening of the Fort Wayne Pride Center downtown. Stillwater director of communications Bonnie Blackburn-Penhollow said people in the LGBTQ+ community can have additional stressors added onto their grieving.
“They may not feel like they can have grief, or express their grief, if their family is not approving," she said. "They need to be able to talk to people who understand what those kind of constrictions on life are like.”
The goals of the group are to create coping strategies for navigating grief, build resilience while honoring loved ones and address the unique experiences and challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals while grieving.
Stillwater boasts several specialized grief support groups to help people deal with specific types of losses. Blackburn-Penhollow said the groups are beneficial because they offer many different perspectives from people at different stages in their grief.
She said there can also be a lot of isolation in grief.
“We’re a grief-avoidant society," Blackburn-Penhollow said. "We don’t want people to be grieving too much.”
The groups can help address that isolation by offering a space and people where there is no grieving “too much.”
The group meets the second Monday of every month at 6:30 p.m. and is free to anyone, regardless of insurance. The hospice does require registration by the Wednesday before each session. To register, call (260) 435-3261 or email vickieber@stillwater-hospice.org.
Stillwater Hospice is a financial supporter of 89.1 WBOI.
