Grief is an emotion that we will all face at various moments in our life, but not all of us are presented with the resources needed to successfully navigate through those emotions. Given that we have all experienced a heightened level of grief and sorrow during the pandemic, OneRouge devoted its Week 80 call to the topic.
Edie Couvillion was the first speaker. It was her first experience with OneRouge and she spoke about her organization, Maddie’s Footprints.
The organization is based out of Lafayette but is expanding to Baton Rouge. They will be absorbing the organization Anna’s Grace, which has a mission similar to Maddie’s Footprints.
Both organizations docs on working with families experiencing a stillbirth.
“Funeral homes are a business,” Couvillion said during the call. “We want to make sure no one gets taken advantage of so they can focus on their grief.”
Jason Dyke spoke next and has a similar mission with his organization Carson’s Village.
“I started a nonprofit in 2017 after I lost my 11-year-old son,” Dyke explained. “When Carson passed, I couldn’t find any resources to help us walk through the process. I had friends who helped us and I realized how fortunate we were to have that village, but I realize that not everyone has that village.”
Not having a place to turn is where the third speaker, Tonja MIles, focuses her efforts. As a suicide survivor and a veteran, she says she wakes up every day with a mission.
“Grieving is a process,” she says. “Having these spaces to do it in a healthy way is important. We’ve had a lot of loss this year. Not only loss of life, but also the hurricanes.
“There are two questions you can ask people,” she added, “where does it hurt and how can I help? It’s okay to not be okay.”
The call was an enlightening moment regarding the need to allow others to work through emotions. If you would like to be part of the weekly OneRouge Coalition call, CLICK HERE.
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