Felician-sponsored hospice ministry hopes participants will find hope, healing and community in monthly support group
WATERFORD — For 40 years, Angela Hospice has supported grieving families and friends with Christ-like compassion.
The Felician-sponsored home hospice care center serves families throughout southeast Michigan, offering care and support to those who need it most.
With the opening of its second center in Waterford near the end of 2024, Angela Hospice is bringing essential services to the local community, including a new peer-to-peer grief support group beginning Aug. 14.
Don't miss another story
Did you know you can get Detroit Catholic's latest daily or weekly articles delivered to your inbox? It's easy and free to sign up.
The Angela Hospice Grief Support Group will meet on the second Thursday of each month, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., at Angela Hospice’s Waterford Care Center, located on the campus of Lourdes Senior Community. It will be led by volunteer Colleen Mott.
Mott has volunteered at Angela Hospice for three years after retiring from the Troy Police Department, offering spiritual companionship and pet therapy.
“I was looking for volunteer opportunities, and I am familiar with the hospice process,” Mott, a licensed professional counselor, told Detroit Catholic. “I was impressed with the comfort and support (Angela Hospice) offered to grieving families.”
Mott — who was deeply moved by the care Angela Hospice provided to her aunt, who was a resident — said she has experienced peer-to-peer support groups in the past, specifically for police officers involved in critical incidents.
“Often, people who are grieving feel like they are alone, and if it is a significant person in their life, they feel like they’ve lost that particular support system,” Mott said. “By being around others who have suffered similar losses, they can get the support from others who understand what they are feeling and going through, and it helps ease the loneliness that accompanies significant loss.”
The group is free and open to the public, regardless of whether their loved one received care at Angela Hospice, said Keely Rhiannon, lead grief counselor at Angela Hospice.
Rhiannon explained that peer-to-peer support groups, as well as groups led by grief counselors and individual counseling, have been part of Angela Hospice’s mission from the beginning. Angela Hospice offers seven support groups out of its Livonia location, capped at 13 people per group.
“It is a beautiful, transformative experience to see them first connect in groups to feel safe and heard in their story, and to see how that impacts their ability to feel connected and seen. We wanted to make sure that was open to the entire community in Waterford,” Rhiannon said. “We have a wonderful opportunity not only to validate and normalize one's grief experience, but when we combine that with a group setting, it builds a community.
“It is important for us to see that we are not alone in grief," Rhiannon continued. “Our grief is so unique to each of us, and it is important to witness to that and see that there are others within our community who may not know exactly what we are experiencing, but they have a similar experience.”
Mott is hopeful that as the group meets for the first time on Thursday, participants will find much-needed community.
“I hope they will feel that they have gained a new community to help them through the grieving process,” Mott said.
The Angela Hospice Grief Support Group will meet monthly on the second Thursday of each month, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., beginning Aug. 14, in the conference room at Angela Hospice’s Waterford Care Center, located on the campus of Lourdes Senior Community, 2300 Watkins Lake Road. All are welcome.
