Welcome to our Support Center

 

If you are here, you are probably looking for support for yourself or a loved one. We are so sorry for your loss, but are glad you have found us. As bereaved people ourselves, we can empathize with the pain you must be feeling and will keep you in our thoughts and our hearts.

 

We are honored to welcome you to Hope After Loss – a community of women and men who grieve the loss of a pregnancy or infant. Through peer support, burial assistance, education, and awareness initiatives, we provide connections, comfort, and care to those who have experienced the loss of a baby.

 

Losing a much-wanted baby can feel like being plunged into darkness. Finding your way out of that darkness is no simple task, but it is made easier when others extend their hands to help. As bereaved women and men ourselves, we reach out our hands to all those who grieve the loss of a baby, and we walk out of the darkness together. Honoring and remembering our babies together, we can help each other through our grief, and we can find light and hope in our lives once more.

 

Guided by our values of compassion, acceptance, empathy, respect, and inclusion, we are committed to ensuring that no one who has lost a baby must grieve alone.

 

 

Hope After Loss offers Peer-led Bereavement Support Groups

 

We hold free peer-to-peer support group meetings in Connecticut each month for women and men who grieve the loss of a pregnancy or infant. These meetings provide the opportunity to connect with others who have experienced similar losses. We foster a welcoming and inclusive environment where women and men who have experienced the loss of a baby can freely share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences while supporting each other. There is no judgment at our meetings: only understanding, compassion, and respect.

 

Each of our support group meetings is led by either trained volunteer facilitators who have themselves experienced the loss of a pregnancy or infant or professional perinatal loss counselors. All of our groups are drop-in groups: new participants are always welcome, and you may attend as many or as few meetings as you like.

 

To join a group, simply come to a meeting. You may come by yourself, with your partner, with a relative, or with a friend. There is never any pressure to speak; you may come to a meeting just to listen.

 

Though most people feel nervous before their first support group meeting, nearly everyone is glad they came. We hope to see you at one of our upcoming meetings. Please find the current schedule here.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Groups

 

Our Loss groups are open to anyone who has lost a pregnancy or infant, no matter when your loss occurred. You may attend as many meetings each month as you like.

 

Please RSVP by noon the day of the meeting by calling 203-783-4330 or email ambers@hopeafterloss.org

 

Second Thursday of the month

6:30 – 8:00 p.m.

Hope After Loss at

Community Health Center

635 Main Street, Middletown, CT 06457

Parking is on the street, or there is parking behind the building.

 

Second Thursday of the month

7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Hope After Loss at the

St. John’s Episcopal Church

679 Farmington Avenue

West Hartford, CT 06119

Please park behind the church and use the entrance with the ramp on S. Highland St

 

Third Thursday of the month

7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Hope After Loss at the

First Congregational Church house

122 Broad Street

Guilford, CT 06437

Meetings held in 1st floor library room of the mustard-colored house next to the church.  Corner of Broad and State Street. Enter through side door on State Street.

 

Fourth Monday of the month

7:30 – 9:00 p.m.

Hope After Loss at

United Methodist Church

165 South Avenue

New Canaan, CT 06840

Please enter through the rear of the building and the meeting room is to the left off the foyer.

 

Our New Haven Support Group location change begins June 29, 2017.

 

Fourth Thursday of the month

7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Hope After Loss

United Church on the Green –  In the Bradley Room

270 Temple Street

New Haven, CT 06510

 

Please park close to the church building and away from the sidewalk. Additional parking is available on Wall St. and Temple St. in the propark parking lot adjacent to the UCG Parish House. View the following images and map. Any questions, please contact Amber Smiley, Program Manager at ambers@hopeafterloss.org.

 

Subsequent Pregnancy Group

 

If you are thinking about trying to conceive, trying to conceive, or pregnant again following a loss, this group is especially for you. *This meeting will run by RSVP only. Please call  203-783-4330 or email ambers@hopeafterloss.org by 12:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting if you would like to attend.

 

First Thursday of the month

7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

United Church on the Green –  In the Bradley Room

270 Temple Street

New Haven, CT 06510

 

Please park close to the church building and away from the sidewalk. Additional parking is available on Wall St. and Temple St. in the propark parking lot adjacent to the UCG Parish House. View the following images and map. Any questions, please contact Amber Smiley, Program Manager at ambers@hopeafterloss.org.

 

** Dates and times of all meetings are subject to change, especially if a regular meeting date falls on a holiday. Please visit our website prior to each meeting to confirm the date and time; last-minute schedule changes are posted on the Home page. **

 

Please RSVP by noon the day of the meeting by calling 203-783-4330 or email ambers@hopeafterloss.org

 

One-on-One Bereavement Support

 

If you can’t make it to one of our support groups, or if you feel you need support between meetings, we can connect you with a support provider who can speak to you via phone or e-mail. Please contact us if you are interested in one-on-one support.