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.

Content Funded By

Municipality of Port Hope logo

Municipality of Port Hope

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

Community Grief-Related Blog

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…

a lilac is stuck in the sand of the beach at a memorial.

What I know about grief

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The following are some things I know to be true about grief for me, based on my lived experience. Some of them may resonate with you as well. Grief is unique to the people experiencing it in each moment, so please take whatever makes sense to you from this share and leave whatever doesn’t.

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.

bunches of small, pink flowers

Ripples of Grief: Supporting Ourselves, Others, and our Communities After a Death

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By Jessica Milette, MSW, RSW When death knocks on the door of a community, each of us are impacted. Sometimes…

Community Grief-Related Videos

ALL PANDEMIC VIDEOS
  • ALL PANDEMIC VIDEOS

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 – Working in Community Outreach

Nicole – Working in Community Outreach

Nicole discusses her work in community outreach and how she has lived experience with addiction and living rough.

Keith – “Disenfranchised Grief”

Keith – “Disenfranchised Grief”

Keith describes disenfranchised grief.