Community News:
After more than three years of online meetings, the local MISS Foundation Support Group is resuming in‑person meetings on Thursday, July 13 in Los Alamos.
The MISS Foundation Support Group of Los Alamos and Northern New Mexico meets 7-9 p.m. the 2nd Thursday of every month in the library at Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church, 3900 Diamond Drive.
The MISS Foundation is an international, 501(c)3 organization that offers support to families experiencing the death of a child at any time for any reason. There has been a MISS Support Group meeting in Los Alamos for about 10 years.
“When our first son was born still more than 20 years ago, there were no support groups for grieving parents in Los Alamos,” said Halo Golden, one of the group’s facilitators. “My husband and I drove to Albuquerque for several years to attend a Share Support Group.”
Golden spent several years offering one-on-one support throughout New Mexico with the MISS Foundation before establishing the local group, which has welcomed grieving families from all over the region. A few years after the local group was established, Lauren Coupland, who originally attended meetings seeking support, joined Golden as a facilitator.
Surviving the death of a child, regardless of age, is a singular experience that can be drastically unlike other types of grief. Sometimes the best support can only come from others who have been through it.
Adult family members are welcome including parents, grandparents and adult siblings. Unfortunately, the group is not able to accommodate younger children.
Anyone who knows of a family who has lost a child and is in need of support is asked to share this information with them.
Contact Halo Golden at halo.golden@missfoundation.org (505.690.3277) or Lauren Coupland at lauren.coupland@gmail.com (505.695.2198) with any questions or for support. Both Golden and Coupland are available beyond group meeting times, as well.
The MISS Foundation is not faith based, and is grateful to Trinity on the Hill for supporting its mission and graciously holding space for grieving families.