Understanding Grieving Men & Grief in the Workplace

Speaker: Dr. Debby Baker, Clinical Psychologist, Programs Director – Community Grief Center Understanding Grieving Men & Grief in the Workplace

The Community Grief Center opened its doors in August of 2016 to help people of all ages grieving the death of a loved one. It sprouted from a discussion with Dr. Debby Baker and John Seitz of Adamson Funeral & Cremation Services, who was offering a monthly Understanding Grief class for adults. John recognized the need for more in-depth specific grief support groups for children, and Dr. Baker offered to help.

Most of the Center’s programs are based on the teachings of grief expert Dr. Alan Wolfelt, founder of the Center for Loss & Life Transition in Ft. Collins. In their discussions, it became apparent that a full-service, free, grief counseling center was what Greeley and the surrounding community really needed. Both Stoddard Funeral Home and Allnutt Funeral Service – both part of the Dignity Memorial network of funeral homes and cemeteries – have come on board to help advertise and support the Community Grief Center programs!

Program brochures will be available for Northern Colorado Women in Business to take. The Community Grief Center provides much needed support services through their monthly Understanding Grief Classes include:

• Weekly Healing Stitches group incorporates needlework and crafts into their healing sessions
• People can also benefit from their 8-week “companioning” support groups. Debby and Melissa can explain the different focus of each of these groups:
  • Moms
  • Blended
  • HUGS
  • Suicide Support
  • Young Adult
  • TREK for Youth and Families
  • Widows

On Wednesday, August 1st, Dr. Baker will give us pointers on two grief issues that will face all of us at some point – Grieving Men and Grief in the Workplace. Following the Wednesday Workshop, you will understand what a personal journey grieving can be. You will discover that:

1. Men grieve differently than women based on how our culture has raised them.
2. Understanding grief in the workplace will help you be a more effective leader.
3. You will have a better understanding of what to say to someone grieving in the workplace and how to help them.

Meet Dr. Debby Baker:

Dr. Debby Baker is a retired Air Force Colonel who served nearly 28 years in military service. Both Debby and her husband Al were Commissioned together at Colorado State University (ROTC) and Retired together in Colorado Springs. She used her G.I Bill to return to college and obtain her Doctorate (PsyD) in Clinical Psychology. She specialized in Geriatrics and Grief.

Debby is a Colorado native, and while having served around the world, always knew she would return to her Colorado mountains. She and her husband moved to Greeley to be closer to their daughter, son-in-law, and grandson—who will be in 5th grade this fall at Frontier Academy. When not working, they like helping with the annual Taste of Weld County, are active at their Church—Our Savior’s Lutheran, and driving their Corvettes as members of the Corvettes West Car Club.

In her role as a clinical psychologist, Debby specializes in grief support. The Community Grief Center all started coming together when Debby went to Adamson’s to plan her mother’s service. From that first meeting, she developed a relationship with John Seitz and Cherry Smith, Adamson’s “after the funeral support person.”

A board of directors was soon formed to establish the nonprofit and raise funds for their developing mission. People believed in a “promise to create a non-profit,” and $75K was raised at their initial fundraising program. A generous anonymous donor purchased a building to house this growing organization and its mission – at a rental rate of $1 per year. Dr. Baker began developing programs for specific grief experiences based on Dr. Wolfelt’s model and became the Community Grief Center’s first Executive Director and Programs Director. Debby donated all of her time and talent to get things moving in a forward direction and still has never accepted a paid wage.

Once the board raised enough money to provide a paid position of leadership, Melissa Jensen was hired as their Executive Director, to take on the burden of running the business-side of their mission. This has allowed Dr. Baker to dive in and finally focus on running the programs, which is where her passion truly lies. The team and its corps of volunteers quickly built demand for their services and soon they outgrew their first facility. So, in February of this year, the Community Grief Center was blessed with a larger home for hope and healing, and they moved to their new location at 2105 Clubhouse Drive, Greeley, CO 80634 (south of Sears Real Estate just off the Highland Hills Golf Course) in June. They spent July getting things organized and are starting to feel at home. All of the Community Grief Center’s programs are free to individuals and they are now well-positioned to grow their client base.

You can reach out and contact Dr. Debby and/or Melissa at:
www.communitygriefcenter.org
de*********@co******************.org
(970) 506-4114

Registration Information:

Your Cost: Just $25 when pre-paid by Thursday, July 26th – or $40 (if there is space available) until Friday, July 27th at 5 p.m. when registration will close. I’m giving you an extra day due to this being a shorter month since we met on July 11th. Sign-up and pay online with PayPal / credit card, or you can mail or drop off your check made out to either: Northern Colorado Women in Business or Kristi’s Kreations, LLC to:  4113 W. 16th St. Rd., Greeley, CO 80634. If no one is home just tuck your payment envelope in the flower can on the inside of my front door. All checks are held and deposited the day of our Workshop.

Workshop Day Information:

Catering: Holly Carter, Carter’s Creative Catering
Check-in Hostesses: Kimberly Gilbert, Nerium International & Cheri Witt Brown, Habitat for Humanity
Greeter: Barbara Solovais, Lit’l Bit Bar & Grill
Clean-up: Barbara Solovais, Lit’l Bit Bar & Grill; Angela Garcia, Total MomSense; Robin McIntire, Training with Passion; Jacque Taylor, Burke Cleaners

Sister-to-Sister/Pay it Forward: Miranda Lopez, Beyond Skin Med Spa will coordinate our August philanthropic efforts to benefit our hosts – the Community Grief Center