Grief Services, Support and Resources
The staff of MyMichigan Hospice wish to extend our condolences to you upon the death of your loved one. We hope this information will be helpful to you to find supportive resources through MyMichigan Hospice, in the community, and online.
Seek Support for Grief and Loss*
The pain of grief can often cause you to want to withdraw from others and retreat into your shell. However, having the support of others is vital to healing from loss. Even if you’re not comfortable talking about your feelings under normal circumstances, it’s important to express them when you’re grieving. You may find comfort just from being around others. Other places to find support include:
- Support Groups
- Faith community
- Therapist or grief counselor
For many, comfort comes from tending to the grief privately. Facing and expressing feelings in a tangible creative way, maintaining hobbies and activities, and looking after your physical health can be very helpful. Others find reading as a way to get new ideas about coping with the loss. What works for one person may not be helpful to another.
Some different coping materials include: books, websites, podcasts, and community resources. These materials have helped grieving families just like you.
MyMichigan Hospice Grief Services
The staff at MyMichigan Hospice are here for you and have many resources that provide support and education to individuals and families who have lost a loved one. Bereaved families of MyMichigan Hospice patients receive personal and regular contact during our 13-month follow-up program. Community members may also receive bereavement support, including short-term counseling and referrals to community professionals for further support.
Support Groups
Grief support groups focus on bereavement topics including the value of support during grief, why each person's grief is unique, myths of grief, stages of grief, creating a memory relationship, taking care of yourself and getting through anniversaries and holidays.
Resource Assistance
Information and referral for families requesting assistance.
Education and Grief Support
Hospice members provide presentations and in-services for churches, schools and community groups who wish to learn more about grief. Group support is also available to organizations that have suffered the loss of a team member or experienced a tragedy.
Memorial Services
Families and caregivers served by MyMichigan Hospice, as well as community members, are invited to attend memorial services to remember their loved ones.
- An Evening of Remembrance: This special remembrance event, during October & November, is a time for families to come together and remember the lives of their loved ones. Call for dates to join us for music, a candle lighting ceremony, and inspirational readings.
- Butterflies in the Park: This heartwarming event includes a live butterfly release in honor and memory of our loved ones. The event includes a brief memorial presentation and the release of live butterflies at six locations.
Those interested in more information and details on MyMichigan Hospice's memorial services may call (800) 862-5002.
Community Resources for Grieving Friends and Family
Listed below are some of the valuable resources that exist for family and friends who are grieving the loss of a loved one. If you’d like a list of resources that are specific to the type of loss you are experiencing or specific to the area in which you live, please contact our bereavement specialist by calling (989) 633-1437.
- The Children’s Grief Center of the Great Lakes Bay Region: The Children’s Grief Center of the Great Lakes Bay Region provides a healing environment through peer support for children, teens, and their families grieving a death. Services provided: Grief support groups, school-based support, and additional help for parents. Located in: Midland, Saginaw, and Bay City.
- Compassionate Friends: Compassionate Friends provides support to people who have had a child die at any age, from any cause, or for people who are trying to help those who have gone through this life-altering experience. Services provided: Support groups, crisis hotline, private Facebook groups, online communities, family support, and general supportive information. Located in: Chapters of Compassionate Friends exist throughout the country. Use the chapter navigator to find a chapter near your city.
- GriefShare: GriefShare seminars and support groups are led by people who understand what you are going through and want to help. You’ll gain access to valuable GriefShare resources to help you recover from your loss and look forward to rebuilding your life. Use the Find a Group section to find a location near you.
Recommended Reading and Other Resources
Our partners at Michigan Medicine and the Office of Decedent Affairs has selected a few books that some families have found helpful to read during their grieving process, as well as some online resources and podcasts.
Reading Resources
Our Michigan Medicine partner put together the following downloadable PDF reading resources for adults and teens: Grief Resources Reading List for Adults or the Recommended Grief Resources for Children and Teens.
Online Resources
- Modern Loss:Modern Loss is a place to share the unspeakably taboo, unbelievably hilarious, and unexpectedly beautiful terrain of navigating your life after a death. Beginners welcome.
- What’s Your Grief: Promoting grief education, exploration, and expression in both practical and creative ways.
- Refuge in Grief: An online community and resource that helps people survive some of the hardest experiences of their lives.
- Dougy Center for Grieving Children:The Dougy Center provides support in a safe place where children, teens, young adults, and their families grieving a death can share their experiences.
- Hospice of Michigan: Hospice of Michigan provides ongoing grief support even if your loved one was not enrolled in Hospice. Find grief support groups throughout Michigan’s lower peninsula on their website.
Podcasts
- What’s Your Grief Podcast: An occasional podcast by hosts Litsa Williams and Eleanor Haley, covering everything from the holidays to dating after bereavement.
- Grief Out Loud: This podcast comes from The Dougy Center, one of the best centers serving bereaved children and adults in the U.S.
- Terrible Thanks for Asking: Nora McInerny asks real people to share their complicated and honest feelings about how they really are. It’s sometimes sad, sometimes funny, and often both.
*This content originally appeared on our partners at Michigan Medicine's website.
