The Right Place When Nothing Feels Right
When someone dies, it can feel like you’re alone in your grief. At Dougy Center, you will find support, resources, and connection before and after a death.
Grief Resources & Toolkits
Whether you’re grieving, or you’re helping someone who is grieving, Dougy Center is here for you. Find tip sheets, activities, podcasts, and more through our personalized toolkits.
Find Grief Support Near You
Locate peer grief support groups in Portland and around the world.
What We Do
At Dougy Center, we create safe spaces and free resources for children and families who are grieving. Our pioneering peer grief support model, professional training, and world-renowned programs and advocacy bring hope and healing around the world.
The Impact of Dougy Center
Read stories about the positive impact of Dougy Center on children and families who are grieving
Finding support in the midst of grief
An important part of Dougy Center for the Brown family is feeling that they are not alone and being with others who truly understand what they are going through. Through their support groups, they have made deep and lasting friendships with people they now consider extensions of their own family. “Dougy Center has been an invaluable resource,” said Adaire. “I consider myself to be a very intentional, resourceful, and protective mother when it comes to my children. However, I, alone, was not capable of managing their grief. Dougy Center can help to process and unpack all of those big feelings that can consume the hearts of adults and children alike.”
Read the Full StoryGrief Out Loud Podcast
Grief Out Loud is our internationally acclaimed podcast where we talk openly about death, dying, and grief
Latest Episode
May 12th, 2022
Grief Is Love - Marisa Renee Lee
As humans, we have a pervasive desire to compartmentalize. To box up messy thoughts and emotions and “just get on with it already.” For Marisa Renee Lee, this was the approach she took to navigating grief. Grief that started when she was 12 and her mother, Lisa, was diagnosed with MS. Grief that grew as her mother was later diagnosed with cancer and died in 2008. Grief that expanded to included infertility, pregnancy loss, and most recently, a cousin who died of COVID-19. These last three losses led Marisa to realize that she didn’t have to box up her grief and shove it to the back of the closet. She found a way to open those boxes, to sit with the reality of what was lost, to honor what was – and in that process she also found a way to make room for joy and beauty. Marisa wrote about these discoveries for her new book, Grief is Love, Living With Loss. In our conversation we talk about how she got to the point of writing this book, what’s she learned about grief, what it’s been like to grieve in this world as a Black woman, and all the ways she stays connected to the memory of her mom Lisa. read more...
Go to EpisodeNews & Events
February 22nd, 2022
Join the Movement to #Understand Grief
It's time to take a stand and acknowledge grief for what it truly is — a natural, normal, and healthy response to loss. As the pandemic raged through our communities, hundreds of thousands of children and teens have had a parent die, and many more lost grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, other relatives, and family friends. We’re in an epidemic of grief, and never in our lifetimes has grief been so public in the media, yet so privately complex. Join the movement to #UnderstandGrief. Find out more, including 10 ways we can implement grief-informed knowledge, along with social media images you can download and share.
Read MoreArticle
November 2nd, 2021
Brennan Wood writes "A Kids Book About Grief"
We are excited to announce a new book written by Dougy Center's Executive Director, Brennan Wood. A Kids Book About Grief, created in collaboration with A Kids Company About About, features Brennan's personal experience with grief after the death of her mom when she was 12.
About Dougy Center
Dougy Center was founded in 1982 to support children and families who are grieving before and after a death. Today, The Dougy Center Model is world-renowned and has helped 55,000 people find hope and healing.