Thank you to our friends at Modo Yoga Cambridge for their generous donation to the Coping Centre from their Sweat for A Cause Campaign!
We were so happy to meet with
you and appreciate all of your support!
Congratulations to Ros and Glenn on being Awarded the Thorneloe Mitre Award!
21 years ago my wife Esther’s mother died over the Christmas holidays. Ruth’s death was a bitter blow to her family, friends, and church. Esther didn’t know where to turn for support. Friends from church recommended Ros and Glenn Crichton. Their support got Esther through some of the darkest days of her life. They were able to support her because they themselves had experienced profound loss. Their five-year-old daughter Rachelle died just five days after being diagnosed with leukemia, and her death left them looking for support. Who could they talk to about their grief? Who could help them navigate their grief journey? Recognizing the absence of support systems in Ontario, they founded the registered, non-profit charitable organization called COPING, which stands for Caring for Other People in Grief, where for almost 30 years they have offered support, understanding, compassion and encouragement to the bereaved through small-groups, one-on-one counselling, writing, and public speaking. Their work has shed light on an often hidden aspect of human life and uplifted the lives of 1000s crippled by grief. One person who went through their program described its impact on them this way “Coping has helped make my pain bearable, my memories cherished and my sense of future more imaginable.”
That’s what Ros and Glenn do at COPING. They go down into the valley of the shadow of death. They befriend those wandering through the fog of grief, many of whom feel hopeless and alone. They tell them that they are not alone. They tell them that there is hope. They tell them that they can’t take them back to their old life, but that they can help them find their way to a new life. They say to them: “It won’t be easy. In fact, it will probably be the hardest thing you’ll ever do. But I’ve been here before, and although I can’t walk the road for you, I can at least walk beside you as you take your first faltering steps in the long journey of grief.” They are companions of the bereaved, champions of hope, and friends to the broken-hearted. What is COPING? It is a living tribute to their daughter Rachelle that became a monument to faith, hope, and love.
Thank you, Ros and Glenn, for your vision, service, and for making your broken hearts a beacon to other broken hearts. It is a legacy of healing and love that we appreciate and honour today.
Dr. Mark Scott
Special Thank you to the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation for sponsoring our Adventure Camp Kids!
It is only through generous donations from foundations such as this
that COPING can continue to offer
support to those in need.
Special Thank you to our friend and Author Suzanne Trotman for her donation of
her two newest books to our COPING Library
in memory of Timothy Trotman!