Grief recovery program to help the vulnerable in Sudbury
The Samaritan Centre is multi-agency facility that offers services for Sudbury’s vulnerable population dealing with barriers like homelesssness, food insecurity, mental health and addiction isssues.
It recently received funding from the Sudbury Community Foundation for grief recovery training for staff to offer to clients.
Officials with the Samaritan Centre said that right now, vulnerable people have been deeply impacted by devastating grief-related issues compounded by the opioid crisis and the pandemic.
"We are seeing a sea change, so a profound shift in grief and loss. Grief is our emotional response to loss," said Lisa Long, the executive director of The Samaritan Centre.
Long said clients are facing innumerable losses right now.
"Whether it’s the loss of a person, a loved one, estrangement from family, the loss of housing, the loss of employment, pets etc. So we will be able to through grief recovery support them in their grief, in their loss," said Long.
Gerry Lougheed, of the Lougheed Funeral Home in Sudbury, has been helping people dealing with grief for 47 years and volunteers his time to help the vulnerable. He said he believes the new service at The Samaritan Centre will help clients better deal with their losses.
"A lot of them have unresolved bereavement issues some of them have actually ended up in that circumstance of life because they actually didn’t handle a bereavement situation well," Lougheed said.
"A child who died, all of a sudden they started to get addicted to tranquilizers or alcohol, a marital situation fell apart. So what Lisa is doing is most important with bringing light to that darkness."
The Samaritan Centre said it hopes grief recovery sessions will have a trickle-down effect.
"When our clients are able to better manage their grief and loss it’s going to help them better manage their lives and we are really excited about that to be able to support them in that," said Long.
The grief recovery sessions will be held in person and online.
The program is excepted to up and running in the next couple of weeks once training is complete.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Freddie Mercury's home is on the market for first time since 1980 minus his 'exquisite clutter'
Freddie Mercury's sanctuary in London, where he lived the last decade of his life, is on sale for the first time in nearly half a century -- minus his "exquisite clutter."
'The lost season': Winter comes to a close as Canada's warmest on record
The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.