About Us
The Story of Grief Matters
Grief Matters is a Canadian organization that aims to improve how we understand and make room for grief, using creative, community-based activities. We use the framework of ‘grief literacy’ to increase knowledge, skills, and actions about all kinds of grief.
We believe grief comes in many shapes and sizes. We can grieve human or animal deaths, as well as changes in health, roles, jobs, our climate, and dreams. Despite all the different kinds of grief, we all live our grief within our social networks and communities. And so, we believe that community matters deeply to how we grieve.
While Grief is universal, we each experience grief in our own ways. Perhaps that is why grief is so often misunderstood. When grief is misunderstood, we can do harm to ourselves, and to other grievers.
Grief literacy is a grass-roots movement that is working to reduce the possibilities of this harm. Grief literacy is about helping community members to better understand their own and other people’s experience of grief
Anyone who has experienced grief is a ‘grief expert.’ Chances are that if you have read this far, then you are too. So please, sign up for our newsletter to stay updated and find out ways to get involved. Because Grief Matters for all of us.
Ready what we’ve been up to! Check out all our past newsletters.
BOARD MEMBERS (coming soon)
Meet the Team
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Susan Cadell (she/her)
Co-Founder
Susan Cadell is a social work researcher and adjunct professor in the School of Public Health Sciences at University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Susan is passionate about talking about grief. She does research about positive aspects of stress and coping in various health situations. She focuses on grief through exploring making meaning, spirituality, palliative care and tattoos of all kinds. -
Mary Ellen Macdonald (she/her)
Co-Founder
Mary Ellen Macdonald is an anthropologist and Professor in Palliative Medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She holds the J & W Murphy Foundation Endowed Chair in Palliative Care. She has been researching death, dying, and bereavement for two decades, and is especially committed to supporting death and grief literacy across our diverse communities. -
Susan MacLeod (she/her)
Co-Cartoonist-in-Residence
Susan MacLeod is a Nova Scotian artist writing and drawing about health care issues. Her book, Dying for Attention: A Graphic Memoir of Nursing Home Care, follows her nine-year journey shepherding her mother through a callous long-term care system, which inspired her interest in end-of-life issues. Her illustrations have been published by Kaiser Permanente, Halifax Magazine, Lion’s Roar Magazine, Maisonneuve, The Fold, and The Globe and Mail. Follow her on Instagram and at susanmacleod.ca -
Lauren Delaney
Lauren Delaney is a health and wellness researcher based in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. She is dedicated to promoting access to quality health and wellness services and education Nova Scotia. Lauren has been working in the area of health and wellness advocacy since 2016 though both community-based services and research institutions. She is committed to supporting organizations such as Grief Matters in making meaningful change for communities and individuals through health and wellness education.
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Michele Goldman (she/her)
Operations Coordinator
Michele Goldman has a diverse background in web design, marketing, administration, and customer service. She designed and continues to maintain the Grief Matters website, supports day-to-day operations, and writes the newsletters. Michele also works as a life coach, and is passionate about helping people reach their goals. She was born in New York City and grew up in Montreal, where she still lives. She’s thrilled to be a part of such a meaningful and important project. -
Rency Luan (she/her)
Social Media Manager
Rency Luan is a PhD student in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo. Her research explores the intersection between mental health, pop culture, immigration, and race to examine how stigma circulates within discourse and broader cultural structures. At Grief Matters, Rency is grateful to support grief literacy through social media initiatives and visual storytelling. -
Justine Scheifele (she/her)
Social Media Manager
Justine Scheifele is a social media manager here at Grief Matters. As a graduate of the University of Waterloo, her work explores the intersection of digital marketing and visual rhetoric, blending design and storytelling to communicate with clarity, empathy, and impact. At Grief Matters, Justine helps create thoughtful, accessible content that supports open, compassionate conversations around grief. She is grateful to expand the reach and knowledge of grief literacy across social media. -
Heather Hemming (she/her)
Volunteers Coordinator
volunteer [at] griefmatters.ca
Heather Hemming is a recently retired healthcare social worker based in Nova Scotia. Prior to this career, she worked extensively with volunteers in non-profit groups and has considerable experience walking with people through times of loss and grief. Heather loves to help build communities of care and support and is delighted to be part of growing the caring community of volunteers with Grief Matters. -
Savannah Tries (she/her)
Co-Cartoonist-in-Residence
Savannah Tries is an artist and writer originally from Alberta, now based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her artwork and comics have been featured in various galleries by the Alberta Society of Artists and in publications including Renegade Arts Entertainment and the Society for Northern Alberta Print-Artists. She is drawn to visual storytelling in all forms and is grateful to support grief literacy through her comics as the Co-Cartoonist-in-Residence at Grief Matters.Follow her on Instagram @savannahtriesart
https://instagram.com/savannahtriesart -
Alissa Davis (she/her)
Social Work Intern
I am a Master of Social Work student at the University of Waterloo and a life-long resident of the beautiful Niagara Region. I have worked professionally in healthcare for 18 years, holding licenses as both a Registered Practical Nurse and a Registered Social Worker in Ontario. Through lived experience and professional exposure, I have become deeply passionate about grief literacy, legacy work and the discourse that exists between hospice palliative care and the provision of MAiD. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to work alongside the Grief Matters team to expand grief literacy within the greater community, including accessibility to information and services that support these agendas.
Volunteers
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Cassandra Voets (she/her)
Social Work Intern
Cassandra is a Master of Social Work student at the University of Waterloo, living in the heart of Northwestern Ontario in Thunder Bay. She has spent the last 6 years of her career working with Indigenous First Nation communities in mental health, mainly focused on children and youth. During this time Cassandra has developed a passion for community driven approaches and has recognized the importance grief literacy can play in supporting communities. She is grateful for this opportunity to work and learn from the team at Grief Matters and is looking forward to expanding her knowledge on grief.
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Cin Lam (they/them)
Podcast Host
Cin Lam (they/them) is a MSW and social work researcher in the School of Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo. Their passion lies in grief literacy, particularly in examining the subtle ways that grief embeds itself into our every day. Cin especially is drawn to exploring the different ways in which we can make conversations of grief accessible for young folks such as video games, TTRPGs, music, and much more. At Grief Matters, Cin is grateful to support grief literacy through the Grief in All the Wrong Places podcast. -
Hannah Zettler-Graca (she/her)
Social Work Intern
Hannah is a Master of Social Work student at the University of Waterloo, living within the Niagara Region. She is passionate about harm reduction and is interested in exploring experiences of grief in necropolitical landscapes. Hannah holds a desire to support the development of grief literacy across diverse communities, particularly those accessing and providing harm reduction services within the opioid overdose/drug poisoning epidemic. She is grateful for the opportunity to intern with the team at Grief Matters and Susan Cadell.
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Suzanne Zietsma (she/her)
Social Work Intern
Suzanne is a Master of Social Work student at the University of Waterloo and a healthcare professional with over eight years of experience in acute care. Her background in the ICU has given her a deep appreciation for how grief, loss, and systemic barriers shape people’s experiences of care. Suzanne is passionate about promoting dignity, compassion, and equity in end-of-life and palliative care, and she’s especially interested in how grief literacy can foster understanding and connection within communities. She’s grateful for the opportunity to learn from the Grief Matters team and contribute to their work in reshaping how we talk about and support grief in all its forms.
Official Grief Matters Partners
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Epilog
Epilog is a Nova Scotia based Community Interest Company committed to compassionate and practical support with transitions from moving to funeral services, all with a focus on environmental sustainability and well being.
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Hike Nova Scotia
Hike Nova Scotia is a nonprofit organization that encourages and promotes a growing hiking and walking culture throughout our great province. We strive to be the voice for those who hike, walk and snowshoe as well as those who build and maintain hiking trails. With every step we’re building a community of outdoor adventure enthusiasts.
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Nova Scotia Hospice Palliative Care Association
The Nova Scotia Hospice Palliative Care Association (NSHPCA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of hospice and palliative care as well as implementing and supporting grief, bereavement and emotional wellness resources across the province.
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When You Die
The When You Die project is all about supporting positive conversations about death and dying. We believe talking about death isn't dangerous but, conversely, can nurture happier, healthier individuals and families who approach death informed, inspired, and with a sense of understanding.
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Canadian Alliance For Grieving Children And Youth
In Canada, too many children, youth, and families are grieving alone—without the understanding, support, or tools they need to grow. The Canadian Alliance for Children’s Grief exists is a network of providers across Canada working collectively to build grief and compassion literacy across the country, equipping communities, professionals, and partners to respond with empathy and care. NO one should have to grieve in isolation. Together, we can ensure that every grieving child and family feels seen, supported, and surrounded. Compassionate grief literate communities are the opposite of isolation.
Friends of Grief Matters
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J & W Murphy Foundation
The J & W Murphy foundation has supported issues like literacy, housing and food insecurity, newcomer resources, mental health programs, the arts, and animal welfare, among others.
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Canadian Institutes of Health Research
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is Canada's federal funding agency for health research.
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QEII
The QEII Foundation helps fund new technologies, medical research, innovation and professional education that contribute to life-changing moments experienced every day by patients and their loved ones.
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Hospice Halifax
Hospice Halifax is a compassionate and supportive community dedicated to making dying and living as comfortable and as meaningful as possible at the end of life.
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Halifax Central Library
Thank you to Halifax Public Libraries and the Halifax Central Library for their generosity and support in co-hosting many of our 2023 events.
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Canadian Virtual Hospice
The Canadian Virtual Hospice provides support and personalized information about advanced illness, palliative care, loss and grief, to people living with illness, family members, people working in healthcare, educators, and researchers.
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Canadian Grief Alliance
The Canadian Grief Alliance (CGA), is a group of leading grief specialists that are encouraging the Government to address national gaps in grief services.
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Help Texts
Help Texts delivers expert, ongoing grief support via text message. With gentle, evidence-based texts customized based on cause of death, age, relationship and more, Help Texts supports grievers globally and in 20 languages.
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Pallium Canada
Pallium is a national, non-profit organization focused on building professional and community capacity to help improve the quality and accessibility of palliative care in Canada.