Community Grief

Community Grief (also known as Collective Grief) is when a group of people experience a death or loss that impacts them communally and broadly. Community grief can be experienced at our local community level, as a region, as a country, or we can be impacted as a global community.

Community grief can occur after a community has experienced a death of a well known member of their community, following natural disasters, accidents such as the Humboldt bus accident, or mass loss of lives such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

We do not need to know the person individually to experience community grief. We experience community grief because we feel a connection to the person(s) who have died. They may have been a community member who was part of our daily commute for years, a celebrity whose story resonates with you, or we may grieve for those closely impacted who are grieving their loved ones.

We never have to be alone in our grief, and gathering in community can be one way to honour our grief as a community. On this page you will find videos of community members talking about their experiences of community grief.

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Community Grief-Related Blog

a marsh in Temagami with lillypads in the water and sparse trees sticking out of it

Thoughts on International Overdose Awareness Day 2023

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We lead multifaceted lives, and the deaths of those we love who have died by drug poisoning contain multitudes. The death of a loved one can bring intense grief, shock, anger, shame, or guilt. People who use drugs, and those who love them that they leave behind, face stigma in North America’s dominant, settler culture.

Community Grief Toolkit [Downloadable!]

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This toolkit also reflects on how we support grief in the community. The tools to come together and honour our collective experiences and how to build the resources for further support.

Finding Joy During the Holidays After Loss When Everything Feels Awful: A message of hope.

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My mother died in the middle of the night on January 1, four days before I turned sixteen. I don’t…

Collective Grief

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When the death of a person affects many members in a community, city, country, or across the world, people will experience collective grief.

These are some things that can help people through the experience of collective grief across a community.

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Community Grief-Related Videos

ALL PANDEMIC VIDEOS
  • ALL PANDEMIC VIDEOS

Kristal – Professional Experience and Work

Kristal – Professional Experience and Work

Kristal discusses being a peer support worker, working on a one on one level with community members to help them with their goals related to substance abuse. She supports those in the community dealing with loss and grief. She speaks to everyone's experience with loss and grief being very individual.

Keith – “We need one another”

Keith – “We need one another”

Keith talks about the importance of story, understanding our journey and how we are connected.

Nicole – Using Art and Creativity to Express Grief

Nicole – Using Art and Creativity to Express Grief

Nicole discusses the work she does to allow access to creative outlets such as art hives and gardening.

Keith – “Disenfranchised Grief”

Keith – “Disenfranchised Grief”

Keith describes disenfranchised grief.

Jacqueline – How to help a grieving friend

Jacqueline – How to help a grieving friend

Jacqueline discusses the power of just being there with someone in grief

Christian – “Remembering together in a meaningful way”

Christian – “Remembering together in a meaningful way”

Christian discusses the power of memories.

Nicole – Pandemic Leads to Increase in Drug Poisoning

Nicole – Pandemic Leads to Increase in Drug Poisoning

Nicole discusses the increase in drug poisonings during the pandemic due to a number of factors.

Nicole – Power of Speaking About Lost Ones

Nicole – Power of Speaking About Lost Ones

Nicole discusses the importance of sharing memories of those lost to drug poisoning and speaking their names.

Michele – Normalizing conversations around death dying grief and loss

Michele – Normalizing conversations around death dying grief and loss

Michele discusses grief literacy, the importance of talking and that dying is a part of life

Christian – Language around those pushed to the margins

Christian – Language around those pushed to the margins

Christian talks about how people who are pushed to the margins are not discussed as part of our community and how we need to include them. As a community how do we care for our neighbours and how do we mourn the loss of our neighbours