I Am A Professional

Kristal – Anger with Grief

Kristal discusses finding ways to channel her anger due to poor policy leading to deaths from drug poisoning and those individuals not having the support they needed. She discusses how human beings have the right to be flawed and should have the ability to grow, heal, and change.

Jessica M – Legacy

Jessica explains legacy and gives examples including her own.

Grief, Breastfeeding, and Care

In this essay, I share a bit about my story of grief and breastfeeding. I also share some thoughts about the cultural grief some people are carrying about the lack of support afforded to lactating families whose goal it is to feed their baby from their body. I use some gendered language throughout this essay…

Kristal – Story of Lived Experience

Kristal discusses experiencing homelessness at multiple stages of her life and how that informs her work as a peer support worker. It gives her an understanding of the nuance that surrounds the community. She uses this experience to support people who are experiencing grief related to death from drug poisoning.

Kristal – Harm Reduction

Kristal speaks to the importance of harm reduction and how it can save lives. She discusses how accessing harm reduction leads to the creation of connections with community support. It allows community outreach members to connect with community members and get to know them, and to know to look for them if they don’t see them when they usually do.

Jessica M – Finding Hope

Jessica shares memories of her brothers birthday which was just before her mothers death and how they all found hope

Jessica M – Continuing Bonds

Jessica talks about the values of continuing bonds and connections with people who are not here anymore. She gives some examples of things that have made her more connected to her Mom.

Caileigh – Sharing grief experience to spread hope and kindness

Caileigh talks about taking the opportunity to share her personal and professional grief experiences as a way to spread hope and to spread kindness.

Christian – Supporting people who may die

Christian talks about going from zero overdoses to 50 in a matter of months and how to help people who may die

Craig – Grieving as a Single Parent

In this video, Craig talks about the challenges of grieving as a single parent. He shares his own experiences and offers advice on how to cope with grief, talk to your kids about what’s happening, and ask for help from others.This video is for any single parent who is grieving the loss of a loved one. It is also for anyone who knows a single parent who is grieving and wants to offer support.

Jessica M – Grief is unique for each person

Jessica discusses our uniquenesses during grief, giving yourself permission to grieve and that there are many ways of self care during grief.

Kristal – The Value of all Those Lost

Kristal emphasizes that the lives of those lost to drug poisoning had value, they were an opportunity that was lost, and that the community is missing so much in their absence.