Helping Grieving Children and Youth Find Connection, Hope, and Healing

When a child loses a parent, sibling, caregiver, or other loved one, the impact reaches far beyond the immediate grief. Bereaved children and youth face increased risk of anxiety, depression, social isolation, academic challenges, and other long-term emotional and mental health impacts. Yet specialized grief support remains difficult to access for many families across British Columbia.

Lumara Grief & Bereavement Care Society is working to change that.

With support from the Rix Family Foundation, Lumara’s Grief & Bereavement Care for Children and Youth Program helps young people navigate one of life’s most difficult experiences with compassionate, evidence-based support.

Lumara’s approach recognizes that grief cannot be “fixed” or rushed. Instead, children and youth need safe spaces where they can express their feelings, connect with peers who understand their experiences, and develop healthy ways to cope with loss.

The Rix Family Foundation’s investment is helping ensure that Lumara’s specialized bereavement care remains accessible to children and youth facing profound loss. Through individual and family counselling, therapeutic retreats, support groups, expressive arts therapies, Indigenous healing practices, and peer mentorship, young people are surrounded by a community of care that provides the support, connection, healing, and confidence they need to move forward while honouring the loved ones they have lost.

“I just was completely ignoring my feelings, like I did not even want to think about it. But then with the coping mechanisms that Lumara taught me I’m able to process it more and be able to just take a moment…it’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Because I’m not just suppressing it, I’m actually opening up about it and being more open with my friends and with people from the Lumara community. That really has helped me in indescribable ways. I just feel so much happier, like my life just got a lot better.” – Youth Participant 

Together, Lumara and the Rix Family Foundation are helping young people discover that even in the midst of grief, hope and belonging are possible.cts the collaboration and vision that made this milestone possible.