Who We Are

OUR STORY

Good Grief Central evolved from the Good Grief Workshops for Children and Teens. These biannual workshops have been in operation for over two decades and were founded by leading grief expert Dawn Cruchet.

On July 1, 2017, Good Grief Central became a not-for-profit (NFP) organization. Then, in a very exciting development, we attained Charitable Status on January 1, 2023. We will continue to provide the Good Grief Workshop for Children and Teens. In addition, we are expanding our service offerings to be able to offer qualified professional counselling, support, information, workshops, lectures, education, and consulting. These services will be free to all those in need. Our credentials, skills, and expertise in thanatology (the study of death and death-related behaviours, thoughts, feelings, and phenomena) will be utilized to help Canadian communities and community members struggling with loss and grief-related challenges due to homicide, suicide, accident, chronic illness, palliative care, caregiver advocacy, loss, and death.

We aim to provide direct and timely aid to Canadian individuals of any age with a family member, friend, colleague, or other person close to them who has died. We will do this through workshops, lectures, support groups, a twice-yearly weekend retreat, one-on-one loss and grief counselling, and other beneficial services pertaining to loss, death, and grief challenges as needs become evident.

Successful fundraising is critical to our ongoing growth and success. Our fundraising efforts will be greatly enhanced now that we can issue income tax receipts. As a Canadian charitable organization, we intend to raise money by bringing awareness, education, and information to communities through publicity and special events.

We aspire to engage other healthcare experts and professionals to further explore and educate in the thanatology field, leading to improved community awareness. We recognize the importance of passionate, dedicated volunteers to our Organization. We remain determined to commit and invest in the ongoing education of our volunteers by training them in the area of thanatology. The training and experience gained by our volunteers will bring a much coveted and valuable skill to their communities. Furthermore, our volunteers will gain the opportunity for future involvement and service, should any aspire to employment in the health care profession or to remain a volunteer in their community.