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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We are thankful for the Community Grant funding through the Municipality of Port Hope.

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Community Grief-Related Blog

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Calls to Care, Calls to Action: Bearing Witness to Global Catastrophic Loss of Life and Traumatic Events

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We bear witness to stories of mass loss of lives, stories of families in Gaza being forced from their land, loss of culture and traditions, and countless other ways systems of colonization and oppression can contribute to other non-death losses those who are directly affected currently and have historically faced. As we discussed in a previous article, we can also experience collective grief following natural disasters, accidents, international conflict, and acts of violence that have resulted in catastrophic loss of lives.

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.

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.

What Can Help with Early Traumatic Grief?

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When your child dies you are thrown into a nightmare. None of this is expected to be easy.
Even after several months, it still isn’t. There have been some things that have helped us during
our grief. Maybe they will help you, too.

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Community Grief-Related Videos

ALL PANDEMIC VIDEOS
  • ALL PANDEMIC VIDEOS

Nicole – Pandemic’s Effect on Grieving as a Community

Nicole – Pandemic’s Effect on Grieving as a Community

Nicole discusses the ways the pandemic has affected the way people grieve as a community.

Kristal – Drug Poisoning During Pandemic Stigma

Kristal – Drug Poisoning During Pandemic Stigma

Kristal discusses how the pandemic has created additional stigma surrounding those who use drugs. She discusses how it seems like some losses are treated as more deserving of being mourned than others. Many people have had to grieve privately instead of publically within a community. She touches on the state of the public health system during the pandemic.

Kim – Facebook and connecting

Kim – Facebook and connecting

Kim - discussses our need to connect and how Facebook was useful after her Mum's death