Volunteer Facilitator Testimonial:

"Walking into my first volunteer training session on a cold January day, I had no idea what to expect. Pat spotted me, and pointed toward the first room on the left. That's when I saw it. 11 women sitting in a circle, my fellow volunteers. Soon, another man came in - Herb. And I had an ally. Quickly, however, it became clear that the physical makeup of the volunteers, except for some very funny comments, mattered little. We were there to learn how to help people through the grieving process.

The training was educational, interesting, sometimes emotional, often sad, most times uplifting, but in the end, downright scary. All of us were worried about how this was all going to work in the actual group setting. While someone dying of old age can be very sad, we were going to be dealing with suicide, murder, horrific accidents, little kids dying of disease, and on and on. During the training, there was more than once when I always reassuring, and told us, "you'll understand when you get into your group," And, as usual, they were right.

What happens in group, stays in group, but as a facilitator, it was amazing to see these young teenagers, (and I know it is similar from the little ones to the adults) develop a sense of comfort, which allowed them to eloquently express how they feel about the loss of someone they loved. For many, the Alcove is the only place they can express the fear, jealousy, desperation, resentment and on and on. Why at The Alcove? Because the power is in the group, and everyone knows exactly why they are there. Many times, we laugh and have fun, and sometimes, someone who didn't seem to want to even be in the group, opens up and the feelings come gushing out.

At the end of the night, when we, as facilitators, talk about how we feel about what happened in our groups, no matter how sad some of the circumstances are, I go home knowing we have helped, and am thankful for the Alcove."

Jim Frasier