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CLICK HERE: Introducing Grief Support Program for Veterans, Melanie DeMore returns & more - submitted by Aisha Young

Creating supportive spaces that honor the natural process of grief…

Summer 2025

The Call and the Cost of Serving our Country
Sarah Lee, Program Director

How do we rightly acknowledge the cost of war? This question may be as old as human civilization itself. In our grief-avoidant culture, the conversation quickly devolves into issues more global like defense spending or the ethical implication of our role in international conflict. What’s missing in these conversations are the countless sacrifices and losses navigated daily by our veteran and military families.

Our service members are asked to risk their own well-being as they are sent around the world for various assignments.
Active-duty spouses and children struggle daily to maintain routines during their loved ones’ deployments.
Wounded veterans struggle to find adequate resources and support as they adapt to living with a disability.
There are also significant mental health challenges and moral burdens that our service members navigate as they reconcile the honor of serving their country with the gritty challenges experienced over the course of their careers.

These struggles and sacrifices color the backstory of every military family who has lost a loved one. The simple fact is that call to military services opens the door to grief.

Working with military contacts in the community, we’ve been seeking ways to walk alongside our veteran and active-duty families to offer support. The complexities of the layers of loss facing veterans and their families have led us to develop “Honoring our Grief,” a support group specifically crafted for our veterans, active-duty service members and military families. In the safety of a small, closed group setting, we will honor our loved ones and be given freedom to ask hard questions regarding the cost of service and sacrifice.

The inaugural Honoring Our Grief group begins Mon. July 15 and will last six weeks (ends Mon., Sept. 2). There is no cost to join this gathering, but registration is necessary so we have the materials and resources for all. Learn more and register here www.voicesofgriefcenter.org/groups

As you gather with family and friends for celebrations this summer, please remember the sacrifices that have been made by our military families. Please offer them your support and gratitude. And if they need some extra care, please tell them about our work. We would be honored to walk with them.

Summer 2025 Grief Support and Education Groups

Today’s fast-paced and grief-avoidant culture doesn’t encourage the sacred journey of our broken hearts. Our 6-week and 8-week Grief Support and Education Groups provide a safe place for people to integrate their loss and their understanding of the challenges and misconceptions of grief.

Summer 2025 groups are open now for registration:

Honoring our Grief

Tuesdays, July 15 — Sept. 2, 6–8pm

Mt. Carmel Veterans Support Center, 530 Communication Cir. Colorado Springs

There is no cost for this group, but pre-registration is required.

This 8-week group closed group has been designed for Veterans and their family

members as a supportive place to honor cherished memories of loved ones and explore

the complexities of our varied losses.

Navigating Early Grief

Thursdays, July 17 — Aug. 7, 10am-12pm

Silver Key Activity Center, 1655 S. Murray Blvd., Colorado Springs

Registration deadline: July 10, Cost: $50**

This 4-week group is for those in the first four months of their loss journey. This group

offers an introduction to the grief journey, safe space to process your experience, and

This 6-week support and education group invites you to participate in activities that

provide a meaningful framework to process your grief within a safe community.

Facing the Mourning

Saturdays, July 26 — Aug. 30, 10am-12pm

Colorado Palliative and Hospice Care, 4775 Centennial Blvd. #160, Colorado Springs

Registration deadline: July 19, Cost $60**

This 6-week support and education group invites you to participate in activities that provide a meaningful framework to process your grief within a safe community.

** If finances are a challenge, scholarships are available. For details, please contact info@voicesofgriefcenter.org

Learn more & Register

Voices of Grief in the Community: July and August 2025

Lunch, Film Screening & Moderated Discussion

Thurs., July 17, 2025, 12 Noon

Aspen Mine Center, 166 E Bennett Ave, Cripple Creek

Presented in partnership with Aspen Mine Center - Community of Caring.

After lunch, we’ll screen the award-winning documentary Voices of Grief. The film shares a fresh perspective on the many ways we can navigate grief. A moderated discussion will be led by a Voices of Grief facilitator following the film.

This event is free, but an RSVP is requested. To RSVP, please visit www.voicesofgriefcenter.org/events

Special thanks to Aspen Mine Center's Forget-Me-Nots Grief Support Group for hosting this lunchtime gathering.

Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care annual Commemorative Butterfly Release.

Sat., Aug. 2, 2025 10am

Hillside Gardens, 1006 S. Institute St. Colorado Springs

Voices of Grief Center is pleased to join champion sponsor Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care in this heartfelt gathering to honor and remember loved ones who have passed.

This year’s event will include a reading of names prior to the butterfly release, offering a symbolic tribute to those we carry in our hearts. Guests are encouraged to register online and submit names for the reading by Friday, July 25. A final call for names will also take place at the event at 9:30am.

To learn more, and register here pikespeakhospice.org/butterfly-release/

Save-the-Date! Sat., Oct. 4, 2025

Melanie DeMore Returns for a Community Gathering of Song and Healing

Voices of Grief Center is excited to announce that vocal activist Melanie DeMore returns to Colorado Springs this fall with her unique brand of healing through music!

Who’s Invited: The whole community

What: A Community Gathering of Song and Healing with Melanie DeMore

When: Sat., Oct. 4, 2025 from 6:30-8pm**

Where: Pikes Peak State College Centennial Campus (S. Academy Blvd)

Why: Because we all need to be uplifted

Watch your inbox and our Facebook Page for more details including ticket price and how to reserve your ticket!

** Melanie will also perform on Sun., Oct. 5 at 4pm at Emmanuel Baptist Church with limited seating.

Introducing Kai: Voices of Grief Center Companion Pup

We’re thrilled to welcome Kai, a certified Canine Companion/Service Dog to our team, our VOGC Companion Pup. We recently sat down with Kai to learn a little more about him…

Q. Tell us a little about yourself, Kai.

A. I’m a golden colored dog, a cross between Golden Retriever and Labrador and I just turned three. I’m a big boy and I think I’m pretty good looking. I’ve been told I have rather soulful eyes!

Q. How did you come to be a companion pup?

A I was trained in Newport Beach for 16 months and then went off to Canine Companion Professional Service Dog training where I spent six months learning the finer points of being a Service Dog. For the past 16 months I’ve been a service dog for a young man and live in Peyton with he and his family.

Q. How is it that you came to work with the Voices of Grief Center?

A. My family felt that I had so much to give that they could share me with a great organization. I am so happy to have another purpose along with my service responsibilities to my young man.

Q. What part of working with Voices of Grief Center do you like the best?

A. I enjoy meeting new people and giving them a few hugs and kisses if they invite me. I can tell when someone needs a little TLC – sometimes that means just sitting alongside folks and being present as they share their feelings. My goal is simply to be a comforting presence for everyone I meet through Voices of Grief Center.

Q. How do you spend your free time?

A. I love to play with my pup housemate, Bailey, and cuddle with my partner, Anthony. I also enjoy zooming around the yard with my favorite toy

Crying: Grief's Medicine

Vivian Cobb, Guest Contributor

When we think of grief, crying is a natural companion, and crying truly is the best medicine during our grief journeys.

Although laughing is touted as the best medicine, science proves that crying is even better. Tears have many different functions beyond protecting and lubricating our eyes. Our tears have chemicals and hormones that vary depending on their function.

Have you ever felt a great sense of relief after a good cry? The reason? Emotional crying triggers endorphins, those same feel-good chemicals that flood our brains when we laugh or exercise. Stress hormones like cortisol and prolactin are released in our tears, literally flushing tension from the body. In short, our biology wants us to cry so it can reset.

Crying makes many people uncomfortable, whether the one crying or the witness because it evokes powerful emotions that are sometimes hard to experience. It doesn't help that our culture has deemed crying as a bad thing if it's associated with adverse events, especially grief. Crying tears of happiness gets a pass, but that's only half of the story. The other half of the story deserves to be respected as well.

Here are some strategies to remember:

Remind yourself it's okay and necessary to cry. Don't try not to cry. Your body and mind need the release of crying.
If it bothers you to cry in front of others, create a safe space to cry. Your car, shower, quiet corner in your home, anywhere you feel you can let go.
Scheduling crying jags helped me greatly. Set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes, and go for it. When the timer goes off, get on with your day. This honors your need to cry in an empowered way.

At Voices of Grief, we celebrate the full breadth of human grief. That includes championing healthy emotional expression through the amazing and healing power of crying.

Vivian Cobb is a professional speaker, author and TEDx Speaker

Voices of Grief Center 2024 Impact

~80 community events reaching 3,000+ people in El Paso & Teller Counties

15 support

groups providing
1,400 support hours

14 custom training sessions for ~275 professionals & 765 educational hours

Help us continue the good work! Your tax-deductible donation to Voices of Grief Center brings a unique model for grief support to more survivors, facilitators and partners. Together, let us expand our efforts to create supportive spaces that honor the natural process of grief and educate our community in healthy expressions of grief and mourning.

Donate here

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