Growing together: Learning Through Loss gives Victoria youth the tools to cope with grief

This article was created for Victoria Foundation, and produced independently by Capital Daily. It was approved by Victoria Foundation before it was published.

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Olivia Hahn was only 15 years old when she lost her mother to cancer.

After several months of coming to terms with her loss, one thing became clear: her story needed to be shared with others. Often writing to give herself the space to heal and cope with her grief, she went on to publish her first book last year, “Healing Our Wounded Hearts: A real life story about loss in the voice of a teenager”.

Hahn’s personal story is not only about a tragic experience, but about a person going through a complex process of healing and transformation. And by confronting her own pain, she has not only found a way to cope—she has given her audience a story they can relate with, allowing them to feel connected through experiences of grief that are painful and often isolating.

While grieving the loss of her mother, Hahn visited the Learning Through Loss Society—a non-profit organization based in Victoria. There she received the tools and support she needed to face and cope with her grief.

Learning Through Loss was created with the vision of a community where all youth and those who support them have access to education, support, resources relating to grief and well-being strategies. The organization is committed to providing unconditional support for those experiencing grief in Victoria. It’s a place where individuals can openly share their experiences in an environment of empathy and understanding, so they can continue living life to the fullest.

“Loss is universal, and it's an awful thing that every single person will experience. We want to make sure that we've all got the tools to navigate that the best that we can,” said executive director Megan Kant.

Kant’s own experience with loss led her to working at the society. At 24 years old, she lost her first baby through a miscarriage and found herself feeling incredibly alone in the period of time that followed. “It was my first time experiencing a profound grief like that. I didn't have the tools or the skills, or really even the basic kind of understanding around loss and grief at the time,” she said.

But the experience also left her determined to increase access and reduce barriers for youth seeking support for grief, loss and bereavement.

Led by a caring team of facilitators, counsellors and volunteers, Learning Through Loss offers several unique programs and support opportunities for teens and young adults, students and families that allow people to connect with others through shared experiences. They offer both group sessions and free, short-term individual counselling for youth living within B.C.

To date, Learning Through Loss has reached more than 30,000 youth through school programs including their Good Grief Classroom & Youth Gathering and Good Grief Peer Support. These programs teach children important values about loss that both help themselves and their ability to help others. One of Kant’s current priorities is to continue the expansion of programs just like these to ensure more youth in Victoria have pillars of support where they need it most.

Learning Through Loss could not exist without donations and passionate volunteers giving their time to provide help where needed. Anyone interested in getting involved can find more information on how to do so on the Learning Through Loss Society website, which lists donation and volunteer opportunities.

“It is so vital for us to have those additional sources of funding so we can really make sure that every single youth that needs the support can really get it,” said Kant.