Center for Loss & Hope

The death of someone you love is one of life’s most difficult challenges. When we fall into grief we can feel a whole host of emotions and physical sensations: pain, isolation, depression, confusion, anger, and resentment; stress, sleeplessness, tension, stomach problems, and so on. It can be immensely difficult to face our grief, but grief shared with another is grief that’s on its way toward healing.

Our staff can walk alongside you as you find your way toward hope. We offer a wide range of support programs for adults, teens, and children at no cost.

One-On-One Emotional Support

If you are a member of our YoloCares service family (the families and loved ones of our Hospice and Palliative Care patients) we offer short term, transitional, one-on-one support (up to four sessions) with our grief educators who can help you find your footing and begin your journey toward healing. We make referrals to additional support services when appropriate.

Support Groups

While no one else can walk in your shoes, there are others who are walking a similar path. Groups connect us to others and support us as we find our way. The Center offers a variety of general and specific grief groups, led by experienced facilitators. Some run year around on a drop-in basis. Others are short term, focused on specific topics. All require registration. See our website for a current list of our groups.

We host the following groups (mostly via Zoom). Slowly we are beginning in person groups this fall. Participants complete a registration form for consent and confidentiality (per HIPAA requirements). Call (530) 758-5566 or email Dr. Chris Erdman, the Center Manager at griefsupport@yolocares.org to register.

Additional support groups offered through community partnerships:

For more information or to register for our groups please email us at griefsupport@yolocares.org. Once we register you for the group, you will receive an invitation to the group including the Zoom link.

GRIEF SUPPORT CALENDAR

Support Group Flyers

Spanish Language/Culture Programs

Hay apoyo disponible para el duelo en Español

To meet the need for connection, support, and education among those for whom Spanish is their primary language, our Spanish language educators work with YoloCares patients and their families and offers group support for the wider public. 

YoloCares for Kids

Formerly “Stepping Stones,” YoloCares for Kids is designed to help children, teens, and their families cope with the terminal illness or loss of a loved one, our programs include one-on-one grief support (up to four sessions) for members of the YoloCares service family (the families and loved ones of our Hospice and Palliative Care patients). We also offer age-appropriate support groups for young members of the public. In a safe environment of support and guidance under our grief specialists, our programs help young people create their own pathway to a better future.

YoloCares for Kids Camp coming summer 2023 to support children and teens who have lost a loved one. Contact Elisa Stone, estone@yolocares.org, for details about this new program of fun activities that help kids process their loss and find hope for the future.

Memorial Services

Quarterly memorial services provide grievers an opportunity to honor and celebrate the lives of those who have died. Our next service is scheduled for Saturday, June 10, 2023 at 5pm at Galileo Place, our newly remodeled space, housing our Adult Day Program (1909 Galileo Court, Davis, CA 95618).

A one hour service of candlelight, gentle music, silence, a Ritual of Remembrance, and an inspirational message by Dr. Chris Erdman, manager of the Center—it’s a softly guided way for you to remember, grieve, and find hope among others who are journeying through their own experience of loss. Refreshments will be served.

Call YoloCares to register or for more information, 530.758.5566 or email the Center at griefsupport@yolocares.org.

Additional Grief Support Tools

JoyPath: grief support on your phone

The newest offering from CLH includes “JoyPath,” a handy and helpful digital app for supporting those in grief. CLH has partnered with the developers of an Android and iPhone friendly app to deliver an innovative tool to help people anywhere, anytime walk the difficult path of grief.
The downloadable app includes a Grief 101 section with a number of tabs that provide guidance for topics like “Approaching the first anniversary,” “Facing the problem of the ‘Stuff’,” and “When to seek professional help.” There’s also a Neighborhoods of Grief section that supports those facing specific kinds of grief like loneliness, guilt, and anger. The app includes specifics about YoloCares and the programs and services offered through the CLH.

From the Ground of Grief, a podcast

From the Ground of Grief offers simple, accessible, and practical tips and tools, stories and readings and meditations for anyone suffering a loss, looking for help, and hoping for something that can help them, 24/7, find a pathway forward and toward hope again. The Ground of Grief is produced by the Center for Loss & Hope and hosted by CLH staff.
The new podcast offers yet another way to support YoloCares’ families and helps CLH reach beyond into the larger public, further making YoloCares the premier hospice and palliative care provider in the region.
You can find “From the Ground of Grief” on Spotify.

The Barbara Frankel Memorial Library

Resources on living with loss, anticipatory grief, and caregiving, are available in the Barbara Frankel Memorial Library located in the YoloCares Center for Loss and Hope. To visit the Library, contact YoloCares to set up an appointment.

The Center for Loss & Hope Leadership

Chris Erdman, Director of Center for Loss & Hope, Joshua’s House
Chris Erdman serves as the Director of the Center of Loss & Hope and Joshua’s House—both expressions of YoloCares’ commitment to offer quintessential end-of-life care and support to anyone in the Sacramento region. Erdman also leads the ethics committee of the California Hospice Network. He holds a doctorate in organizational and missional transformation from Columbia in Atlanta. Previously a pastor of three large congregations, a graduate school faculty member, and a missional consultant, he brings three decades of experience to his role of innovative and compassionate organizational leadership. Author of numerous books and articles, Chris also hosts the popular podcasts, Poems to Live By and From the Ground of Grief, both on Spotify. He enjoys cooking with family and friends, walks in the woods, dancing with his beloved, shorelines, old gnarled Juniper trees, dogs, yellow-rumped warblers, the scent of fresh lavender, and the wonders of his children, grand-dogs, and granddaughter.
Renee Avalos, Grief Specialist, Spanish Language Program Facilitator and certified CareDoula®
Avalos brings multiple skills that help her curate compassionate environments where people feel respected, nourished, and accompanied as they face the challenges of loss. Born in San Francisco, Avalos is among the first generation of her El Salvadoran family to live in the U.S. Fluent in Spanish, Avalos holds a deep respect for and understanding of cultural values and traditions, and the way the “camino” of our shared lives offers the possibility finding hope through loss.
Elisa Stone, YoloCares for Kids Coordinator
Stone brings decades of experience supporting and educating those facing life-limiting situations. Accomplished in developing and managing social programs and services, Elisa focuses on the emotional life of individuals and families across the age spectrum. She guides our programs for kids, teens, and their families from her wealth of experience and expertise in childhood development.
Debra Chapman, Grief Group Coordinator
Chapman is a certified death doula and grief companion who values what is sacred to the people and communities she is honored to serve. Chapman has been serving life, death, and grief from an early age and has chosen to apply her lived experience in the service of others in her work. Trained in World Religions, Trauma-informed Care, Non-Violent Communication, and Compassionate Bereavement, she brings a wealth of knowledge to her position.

Resources for Caregivers

Patients and caregivers facing life-limiting or terminal circumstances, can find enormous support and encouragement when they are able to cultivate a network of family and friends who know what’s happening to them and can reach out with notes, prayers, meals, and so on. Many say that online services like this one from CaringBridge are life-changers when they feel overwhelmed and would otherwise feel isolated from the support they need. One caregiver says, “CaringBridge helped me get updates to countless family and friends with one email a day. This service saved me so much stress as I didn’t have to field phone calls, emails, texts etc. CaringBridge made my job as a caregiver so much easier.” For more information, reach out to CaringBridge at https://www.caringbridge.org/

The Center for Loss & Hope is developing a dedicated page for free resources for caregivers, friends and family members of the bereaved. Please check back in 2023 for more information.