Newsroom

What’s happening at BFO-MR

It’s hard to believe that fall is already upon us. It’s a busy time here at Bereaved Families of Ontario – Midwestern Region and we wanted to take this opportunity to tell you more about what’s been happening around the office, and out in the community.

Volunteer Facilitators Needed
“When I started to participate in the closed group of parents who had lost children, I immediately felt that somehow I was going to get through this. The facilitators in the group were absolutely amazing – they were calming and reassuring. Hearing their stories and watching them reach out to help us heal was a light at the end of the tunnel.” – BFO-MR member.

We have been exceptionally fortunate (and we’re extremely grateful) to have an amazing group of volunteers who facilitate our peer support groups for parents grieving the death of an infant and parents grieving the death of a child.

Over the years, as volunteer schedules, commitments, priorities and the voluntary landscape in general have changed, our core group has gotten smaller. Our top priority for 2016 and 2017 is building our roster of facilitators to ensure our current volunteers are supported, and that we have enough group leaders in place to be able to offer our closed programs in the community on a regular basis. The need is there, and we need to be in a stronger position to meet it.

Our programs are not possible without the care, compassion and empathy of volunteers. If you are bereaved and in a place in your journey where you feel you can give back, please apply for our fall facilitator training program. Applications close September 9, 2016. Apply here, or contact the office at 519-603-0196 or email support@bfomidwest.org

All applicants are required to complete an interview prior to training.

Our upcoming four-day training session will be held at The Family Centre, in Kitchener on: Friday September 30th (6-9 pm), Saturday October 1st, (9 am-4 pm), Sunday October 2nd (9 am-4 pm) and Wednesday October 5th (6-9pm).

 

Welcome to BFO-MR!
The staff and board at BFO-MR are pleased to welcome Janet Willard to the role of event coordinator. Janet will be instrumental in ensuring our fundraising and memorial events run smoothly, and will be in the office 16 hours per week. We are excited to have her on board and hope you will join us in welcoming her to the team. Janet can be reached at 519-603-0196 or janet@bfomidwest.org.

At this year’s Annual General Meeting we also accepted four new directors to the board. Please join us in welcoming Teresa MacVicar, Tami Kerr, Breana Walker and David Marsh to our Board of Directors. We look forward to working together.

 

MACT_OakTree_LaunchPackage_SocialMediaAd_500x400The Oak Tree Project
We would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who submitted a story and voted for us in this year’s Oak Tree Project initiative. Our goal was to receive funding to create professional development opportunities for our volunteers to help support them in their role as facilitators for our organization. While we weren’t selected as a finalist, we were honoured to participate alongside some amazing organizations doing incredible work in the community. We wish the best of luck to the finalists, and we look forward to seeing who wins at the Oak Tree Project finale on September 22, 2016.

 

Grant Recognition CNDCF LOGO fileCambridge Outreach
With support from a grant from the Cambridge and North Dumfries Community Foundation (CNDCF), BFO-MR has implemented an outreach strategy to help build awareness and increase access to grief support through our Living with Loss Program at Langs. Staff have begun the critical process of building relationships, attending events and leveraging partnerships in that community to help spread the word about BFO-MR. We are grateful to the CNDCF for the opportunity to be able to do this important work in the Cambridge community.

 

BFOMR_ImpactReport2015_CoverIn case you missed it…
Please take a moment to read the stories in our 2015 Impact Report to see how your support makes a difference in the life of families in our community who are grieving. THANK YOU.