Nearly 200 volunteers helping more than 600 people grieve without going it alone

Nearly 200 volunteers helped Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss, support more than 600 people navigating the death of someone close during its most recent program year. The organization honored them at a June gathering in Mountainside, New Jersey, but the real story is the work that happens after the applause: making room for children, adults and caregivers to grieve with other people. 1

I like this kind of good news because it does not pretend grief can be tidied up. It shows a community building enough structure around sorrow that nobody has to carry it entirely alone.

Imagine's volunteers are greeters, cleanup helpers and, most often, support-group facilitators or substitutes. The facilitators range from high school students to adults. Before they enter a group room, they complete several days of intensive training grounded in the Companioning Model of grief support developed by Dr. Alan Wolfelt. 1

The model's premise is refreshingly modest: volunteers do not try to fix grief. They walk alongside participants, helping create safe conversations where children and adults can tell their stories, feel seen and discover that their experience is shared. That is a demanding form of kindness. It requires attention, boundaries and the patience to let someone else speak at their own pace. 1

The recent program year gives the scale of that quiet labor some shape. Imagine offered 56 support groups across eight Nights of Support through its Newark and Mountainside centers and virtual platforms. The groups served children, teens, young adults and caregivers. 1

Some of the work happens before anyone says a difficult thing. Greeters welcome families. Other volunteers handle cleanup after a Night of Support. The facilitators carry the most emotionally demanding role, but the program depends on the full chain: a person at the door, a room ready for conversation, and someone trained to keep that conversation safe. 1

The annual gathering took place at the historic Masker's Barn in the Watchung Reservation and included dinner and a recognition ceremony. That setting gives the story its human scale. The people being thanked were not an anonymous service workforce; they were neighbors with names, different ages and different jobs inside the same promise to show up. 1

The celebration also recognized three facilitators whose commitment has stretched beyond a single season: Cindy Deegan and Mark Papa, both at 10 years, and Paige Rusnock, who reached five years. The Union News Daily photo shows Deegan and Papa with Imagine clinical program supervisor Abigail Priece, wearing name tags in a room that looks more like a community gathering than a ceremony built for headlines. 1

The service milestones are worth seeing together because they make the volunteer count more human. Nearly 200 people is an impressive total; three names, and three different stretches of time, show what staying looks like.

Imagine's executive director, Lindsay Schambach, said the volunteers help children and families feel seen, heard and understood. The organization says the need for free peer-support groups continues to rise, and it is looking for more volunteers. No professional experience is required; Imagine provides comprehensive training. 1

That last detail matters. The invitation is not reserved for people who already know the right words. It is an invitation to learn how to stay present when there are no right words.

Anyone who wants to explore the role can begin with Imagine's website, which describes its work as supporting children and families coping with loss and fostering resilience and emotional well-being. 2

The morning takeaway is simple and sturdy: a grief-support group does not run on good intentions alone. It runs because people train, return, remember names and make the room safe enough for someone to tell the truth.