The good news is that the only response most grieving employees describe as painful is silence. Everything else is a matter of degree. There are acceptable responses, better ones, and the responses grieving people themselves say helped most. You get closer to the third kind with practice.

Acceptable: what most people say

These are the standard condolences, and there is nothing wrong with them. Each one acknowledges the loss, which is more than many grieving employees receive.

• “I am deeply sorry to hear about your loss.”
• “I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”
• “Let me know if you need anything.”

What they have in common is that the effort sits with the grieving person. When you say you are sorry, most people respond by reassuring you that they are okay, which is rarely true. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through” is a statement rather than an invitation, so it gives them no opening to say more. And “let me know if you need anything” asks them to build a list of ways you could help and bring it to you, which few people in early grief can manage.

Better: how to provide meaningful connection and support

A better response carries the condolence without requiring an answer, and it gives the person something real, whether that is an open door or a task taken off their desk.

• “I wanted to send my condolences to you and your family.” This acknowledges the loss and asks for nothing in return.
• “I’m thinking of you today, no need to respond. I’ll check back in again soon, but I’m around this afternoon if you want to talk.” This is a check-in with an offer to hold space for their grief, and they can take it up now or days later.
• “I was saddened to hear about your father. I moved your deadlines and Priya is covering the Tuesday call, so nothing is waiting on you. I would like to hear about him when you feel like talking.” This combines connection with support. The person is looked after practically and invited to talk about their father.

In all three, the effort sits with you rather than with them. You name the loss, and you make the next step concrete, so connection and practical help arrive together instead of one without the other. That pairing is what the C.A.R.E. model of workplace bereavement support recommends, and one short message can carry it.

Preferred: what grieving people say helps most

When you talk to grieving people themselves, the same themes emerge about what actually helped. A survey of more than 1,100 employees and managers found that employees valued understanding, empathy, and availability from the people around them, while their managers focused on leave policies. Informal support was both more common and more often preferred than formal provisions.

They want to be asked rather than guessed about

Some people want work as a distraction and others need time away, so ask instead of deciding for them. Make the question answerable too, because “how are you?” has no honest short answer after a death. Try: “How are you doing today? Would it help to talk, or would you rather I take things off your plate this week?”

They want to hear the name of the person who died

Most grieving people want to talk about the person and have concluded nobody at work wants to hear it. Try: “I would love to know more about your mother. When you're ready, maybe you can share more on our break or over lunch?”

They want to stop performing

In that same survey, 44.6% said they had tried to suppress their emotions at work. If someone cries in front of you, try: “There is no need to apologize. I am okay with your tears.” Then stop talking, hold space, and listen.

Mark the first year in your calendar

Every touchpoint matters, not only the first one. Since none of us can reliably remember these dates, put them in your calendar. Add a check-in a couple of weeks after the person returns, at least 2 check-ins per quarter across the first year. Then mark bigger holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas and the first anniversary of the death, which is often one of the hardest days of the year and the one almost no colleague acknowledges.

None of this has to feel formal. Employees consistently say they want steady, ordinary connection from the people they work with rather than templates and required steps that feel cold.

What grieving people say they never want to hear

These are the responses grievers themselves report as unwelcome. Even these are recoverable, but worth retiring.

• “At least they aren't suffering.” Any sentence beginning with “at least” tells the person their loss is not as bad as it feels. It also tries to silver-line the grief experience.
• “They're in a better place now.” This assumes your beliefs are theirs and can get in the way of your employee seeking support from you.
• “Time heals all wounds” or “it gets better in time.” These put the person on a timeline they did not choose and for some people may not meet.
• “Stay strong.” This asks the person to hide what they feel, which grieving employees already spend a lot of energy doing.
• “I know exactly how you feel.” This reduces their experience to something that resembles your own experience, which may not be accurate.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the best thing to say to a grieving employee?

Send your condolences and name one thing you have already handled. “I wanted to send my condolences to you and your family. I moved your Thursday deadline, so nothing is waiting on you.” Then check in again later.

Is it wrong to say “I am sorry for your loss”?

It is not wrong, and it is far better than silence. It does put the grieving person in the position of answering you, and most respond by reassuring you they are okay when they are not. “My condolences” means the same thing without asking for a reply.

Do you want help supporting your grieving employees?

Help Texts sends personalized grief support by text, tailored to the relationship, the cause of death, and the dates that matter. Texts are written by grief and mental health experts, available in 29 languages, and delivered across a full year. We even have support for managers who are supporting grieving employees.

Schedule a time to connect with our team to learn more.

Understanding Suicide's Impact

Grief after suicide is uniquely challenging, often accompanied by intense feelings of guilt, shame, anger, shock, and often a lot of unanswered questions. The societal stigma surrounding suicide can further complicate the grieving process, increasing feelings of isolation and loneliness. The ripple effect of a single suicide is profound, affecting an average of 135 people (Cerel et al., 2018). These individuals may face an increased risk of mental health challenges and suicidal thoughts themselves. Some research suggests that those bereaved by suicide have a suicide risk up to 3x higher than the general population (Jang et al., 2022). Additionally, 25% of young people who die by suicide had been previously or recently bereaved (Rodway et al., 2022).

The Importance of Postvention

While prevention often focuses on education, awareness, and immediate intervention, postvention is equally vital. Postvention refers to support provided to those bereaved by suicide loss and is something our team at Help Texts is deeply committed to making available to anyone grieving the suicide of a loved one. Help Texts for Grief includes personalized texts designed to provide comfort, understanding, and coping strategies for those grieving a suicide loss. Help Texts for Health & Well-being is a service that offers tips and resources for well-being, with discreet add-on options for people struggling to cope with thoughts of suicide.

Remember, if someone is actively suicidal, stay with them, remove lethal means, and secure extra support. If you or someone you love needs immediate support, call or text 988 in the US/Canada, or call local warmlines or hotlines in your area. You're not alone.

About Help Texts

Help Texts is the world's leading clinically sound, scalable, bereavement intervention. We deliver affordable, multilingual support globally via text message for all of life's toughest moments. With extraordinary acceptability (95%) and 6-month retention (90%) rates, Help Texts' light-weight solution makes it easy for employers, providers, payers, and others to improve health and community outcomes, while also realizing significant cost savings for those in their care.

Life can be hard. Getting support shouldn't have to be. 💙 Help Texts is proud to be delivering personalized, expert grief and mental health support in 59 countries and 28 languages. All year long.

"I am privileged to walk alongside patients and their families as they navigate the complexities of serious illness," Tracey shares. "My role is to understand their unique goals and values, empowering them to shape their care journey. It's a profound experience that requires empathy, expertise, and a deep commitment to human connection."

As much as she loves the work, Tracey acknowledges that working in healthcare, especially with patients and families during serious illness, can take a significant toll on the well-being of her fellow PAs. "We're also humans facing the same challenges as everyone else,” she says.

Many healthcare institutions fall short in providing adequate support to address burnout, fatigue, and overall well-being, and the stigma surrounding mental health within the medical profession often prevents PAs from seeking help, so Tracey was happy to discover support from Help Texts in 2023, an innovative text-based service offering accessible, confidential, and convenient support via text message. Tracey first used Help Texts to get grief support for herself, her husband, and sister-in-law. "We regularly texted after receiving messages to remark how timely they were, coming at just the right time and providing just the right amount of support,” she says.

After having a positive experience with Help Texts grief support, Tracey was then pleased to learn the company also offers a full year of support for healthcare workers facing burnout & fatigue, as well as support for caregivers caring for a loved one with a terminal illness.

“Help Texts isn't just for PAs,” Tracey explains. “It's also a powerful resource we can offer to our patients' caregivers. By providing easy, accessible, and confidential support, we empower caregivers to better manage their own well-being, which in turn positively impacts the patient's journey."

Tracey has since provided Help Texts subscriptions to family members and friends who’ve shared overwhelmingly positive feedback including:

"I love how it texts me useful information and advice that I can actually think about. I have been recommending Help Texts to people that are going through a tough time." - Cousin, age 29, who lost both parents within 9 months

"I would definitely recommend Help Texts. I found it very helpful without being obtrusive. The topics seem straightforward, and the content is perfect in length." - Friend, age 50, who lost their father

"I don't know what I would do without these messages. Sometimes they are hard to read, but I always go back to read them again. It is just enough support." - Widow, age 53

After connecting with the Help Texts team and learning more about their services, Tracey has become a passionate advocate for expert, text-based grief and mental health support. "I believe that there is awesomeness in the simplicity of texts. As a PA with not only a demanding career but a hectic home life, I appreciate the ability to receive the info when I am able and also appreciate the succinct suggestions that arrive at just the right time. I think we all can benefit from a reminder to PAUSE AND TAKE A DEEP BREATH or to just count to five."

By embracing supportive services like Help Texts, Tracey is convinced that we can increase compassion and create a more resilient healthcare workforce, ultimately benefiting everyone – patients, families, and clinicians alike.

Help Texts gave me practical ways to ground back into myself and process my loss in a supportive and loving way. -- Lilian Riad-Allen

As the Senior Director for Workplace Health, Safety & Wellness at the LCBO, Lilian openly shared about her experience with grief, and before long, she found that others started sharing as well. It was at this point that she realized the vast number of people struggling to manage loss. From there, she started thinking about how many of their organization’s 8000+ employees might benefit from this support and began advocating for grief support for all LCBO employees, rooted in her hope that all bereaved people could receive the support they need when a loved one dies. Luckily, the LCBO was very supportive of this suggestion.

In 2022 Lilian, along with colleague Kayla Smith, met with the team at Help Texts to talk about a pilot to support grieving employees. Kayla also had experience with Help Texts, as she had been receiving texts with tips and suggestions for how to support a grieving friend.

It can be difficult knowing what the ‘right’ thing is to say or how to show up. To say that I learned a lot from Help Texts would be an understatement. I was given so many new tools and new language to help me be there for my friend. -- Kayla Smith

At the time of Lilian and Kayla’s meeting with Help Texts’ CEO, Emma Payne, the company had been delivering grief support in the US and UK for 4 years and was just weeks away - as it happened - from opening a Canadian subsidiary. Help Texts Canada, Inc. opened its doors on January 1, 2023, and LCBO was proud to become its first client.

LCBO now proudly offers a full year of personalized grief support to all of their 8000+ employees. Text support is available in English, French, and 22 other languages, and is tailored based on cause of death, relationship, age, and more. Current research suggests that over a third of North American employees are grieving a recent loss, so Lilian & Kayla knew that they probably had thousands of bereaved colleagues, many of whom probably weren’t receiving grief support, due to barriers such as cost, language, stigma and availability. They also knew that grieving employees are at increased risk for anxiety, depression, illness, substance use, workplace accidents, and lost work, and were excited to play a leading role in shifting the conversation about bereavement benefits in Canada while continuing to support our employee whole person well-being.

In the US, the UK, and many other countries around the world, leading employers such as Johnson & Johnson, Adobe, American Express, and JPMorgan Chase have been expanding bereavement benefits to include things like non-consecutive leave, recognizing that funerals and other arrangements can happen weeks or months after a death. Johnson & Johnson expanded bereavement leave from 5 to 30 days, setting an example for other employers who recognize that a thoughtful and flexible bereavement leave policy is a key part of building a caring workplace culture.

LCBO employees like Thomas Georgakopoulos, the organization’s Director of Retail Strategy and Analytics, is grateful for his employer’s leadership in Canada. LCBO offered him a full year of text support from Help Texts when his father died last year.

When my father passed unexpectedly it was the hardest experience I had ever encountered. I personally didn’t feel grief counseling or therapy was helpful to me, but when I was made aware of Help Texts I said yes to signing up and have been finding it very helpful. Twice a week I get messages that resonate with how I feel with losing someone so close to me and I look forward to each new message. Help Texts is a tool I highly recommend for anyone who has lost someone close to them. -- Thomas Georgakopoulos

As awareness increases about the high cost of bereavement in the workplace, it’s likely that Canadian employers will follow the example of thoughtful organizations around the world and expand bereavement care—so that people like Thomas and Lilian can get support when a loved one dies. Help Texts is one powerful way that employers can provide immediate support for employees, no matter where they work.

If you're wondering what to give someone who’s grieving this Mother’s Day, think beyond traditional gifts. Instead of sending a card or a bouquet that fades after a few days, consider giving them something that truly lasts: A subscription to Help Texts. With your gift they’ll receive compassionate, expert grief support via text, for an entire year.

Here’s why this kind of gifting is one of the most meaningful things you can do:

1. Support That Lasts Beyond Mother’s Day

Grief doesn’t end when the holiday does. It’s common for people grieving the loss of a parent or child to have their pain resurface on birthdays and anniversaries, as well as in everyday moments.

Help Texts offers comforting, clinically sound messages all year long, helping your loved one feel supported long after the world moves on.

2. Messages From Real Grief Experts — Not Generic Quotes

When someone’s grieving, they don’t need platitudes. They need to feel seen and understood.

Each Help Texts message is written by world-renowned grief professionals, offering genuine, practical support that actually helps, whether someone is grieving the loss of a parent, child, pregnancy or other relationship.

3. Guidance for Their Support Network, Too

One of the most unique things about Help Texts is that every subscription includes support for friends and family who want to help, but may not be sure how. Help Texts will send them expert tips on how to be there for their grieving loved one.

4. Gentle, Private, and Pressure-Free

Grief doesn’t always need to be spoken out loud. Sometimes people just need quiet comfort.

Help Texts meets people where they are with no pressure to talk and no appointments to make. Just gentle support delivered directly to their phone, whenever they’re ready.

5. It’s a Gift That Says: “Your Grief Matters”

This isn’t just a gift. It’s a message — one that says: I see your pain. I haven’t forgotten. You matter, and so does your grief.

Whether it’s grief support for someone whose mom has died, or moms grieving the loss of a child, a subscription to Help Texts reminds someone they’re not alone. If you're looking for a meaningful gift this Mother's Day — one that goes beyond flowers and cards, consider sending the gift of Help Texts. Because comfort shouldn't end when the holiday does, and neither should our care.

About Help Texts

Help Texts is the world's leading clinically sound, scalable, bereavement intervention. We deliver affordable, multilingual support globally via text message for all of life's toughest moments. With extraordinary acceptability (95%) and 6-month retention (90%) rates, Help Texts' light-weight solution makes it easy for employers, providers, payers, and others to improve health and community outcomes, while also realizing significant cost savings for those in their care.

Life can be hard. Getting support shouldn't have to be. 💙 Help Texts is proud to be delivering personalized, expert grief and mental health support in 59 countries and 28 languages. All year long.

Minnesota executive, Mark Cullen, had recently lost his dad when he took a call from Emma Payne, CEO at Help Texts. The call helped him more than he could ever have expected.

Mark Cullen is the Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Trellis, a large Area Agency on Aging (AAA) in Minnesota that delivers public programs and social services aimed at improving the health of communities in the state.

“I talk to five to ten vendors a month. Like so many others, I receive incoming messages that I can’t get to,” Mark says. “But I decided to take a call from Emma, because I trusted the person who introduced us. And I’m so glad I did.”

Low expectations, deep impact

As it happened, at the time that Emma and Mark met to talk about support for seniors in Minnesota, Mark had recently lost his dad. He was still going to work, being a dad himself, trying to power through, but admits now that emotionally, he was unraveling. Friends saw him slipping and made gentle suggestions, but he brushed them off. Luckily, Mark mentioned his loss to Emma during their call, who offered to send him a gift subscription for Help Texts. “I let him know that we’d text him grief support and that we’d also send suggestions for how he could support his 7-year-old son, who was having a hard time,” Emma shared.

At first, Mark remembers thinking, “What’s a text message going to do? I get texts from political candidates I never even signed up for.” And yet, he signed up for Help Texts. Partly out of curiosity. Partly because it was easy. And partly, maybe, because someone offered it at just the right moment.

Text messages that actually matter

What Mark found surprised him.

“It didn’t fix anything. I was still depressed and grieving. But it wasn’t trying to fix me. It just helped.” Two months into receiving the messages, Mark found them uncannily timed to what he was going through.

“They were anticipatory. Like the messages knew what I was experiencing without me telling anyone. They’d show up, and it’d be exactly what I needed to hear to go outside, take a walk, breathe. These are simple things, but when you’re grieving, simple things are hard.”

Unlike many support tools, Help Texts didn’t require Mark to schedule anything, talk to anyone, or carve out time he didn’t have. “That’s the thing. For men, especially, and I’m generalizing here, if you make it too complicated or too emotional upfront, we check out. This was low-pressure but high-impact.”

A model that makes sense for men

Help Texts taps into something often overlooked in grief care: simplicity and privacy. Mark pointed out that many people, men in particular, may not be comfortable admitting they need help. “You don’t always want to say it out loud. You don’t want to tell a coworker or even a friend, ‘I’m not okay.’ But a message? That feels safer.”

He never used the supporter add-on (where friends or family get tips on how to support you), though not consciously. But it didn’t take away from his experience. In fact, he tested the program alongside colleagues, one grieving a pet, another dealing with divorce. “The one with pet loss, it hit her hard. She said it helped as much as it helped me. The other guy… well, his divorce was his fault, so he’s in a different place,” he laughs.

Where Help Texts fits and why it works

From a systems perspective, Mark believes grief support like this fits into the broader patchwork of health and wellness services, the kind often left out of traditional care models. “It should be integrated,” he says. “Look at how NordicTrack bundles wellness, exercise, and coaching. We could be embedding grief support the same way in healthcare or employee benefits.”

And he thinks the core product is solid, “I wouldn’t change a thing with the messages. They were that good.”

A quiet, powerful support

Grief is quiet. It slips into the background of your daily life. And for many men, the cultural pressure to keep moving means that even the idea of asking for help feels like too much.

That’s where Help Texts comes in, offering comfort that’s practical and clinically sound, and that doesn’t demand anything back. As Mark put it, “Help Texts didn’t try to 'fix' my grief. They normalized it, gave me real, practical ways to take care of myself, and—it worked.”

About Help Texts

Help Texts is the world's leading clinically sound, scalable, bereavement intervention. We deliver affordable, multilingual support globally via text message for all of life's toughest moments. With extraordinary acceptability (95%) and 6-month retention (90%) rates, Help Texts' light-weight solution makes it easy for employers, providers, payers, and others to improve health and community outcomes, while also realizing significant cost savings for those in their care.

Life can be hard. Getting support shouldn't have to be. 💙 Help Texts is proud to be delivering personalized, expert grief and mental health support in 59 countries and 28 languages. All year long.

What Grief Looks Like After Job Loss

Grief doesn’t only show up when we lose a person—it can surface anytime something meaningful is taken away. When a job ends, it can leave behind uncertainty, isolation, and a loss of routine. These feelings are common. And they are valid.

A Shift in Identity

Your job may have been part of how you saw yourself. Without it, you may start to wonder who you are now. That question can feel overwhelming—but it’s also part of the healing process.

Uncertainty About the Future

“What’s next?” is a question that can weigh heavily. Job loss can bring with it a fear of the unknown. It can feel like everything is up in the air—and that can be hard to sit with.

Frustration and Anger

You might feel frustrated at how things ended, or how little control you had in the process. That’s not just understandable—it’s normal. Naming those feelings is a step toward moving through them.

Disrupted Routine and Connection

Jobs provide structure. They give you a reason to get up, a list of things to do, and people to interact with. When that disappears, it can leave you feeling disconnected and out of sync.

Grief Doesn’t Follow a Timeline

Emotions after job loss don’t follow a schedule. You may feel okay one moment and overwhelmed the next. That’s part of it. And it doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong.

Some of the stages you might move through include:

• Shock or Numbness – “Did this really happen?”
• Anger or Frustration – “This isn’t fair.”
• Sadness or Emptiness – “What now?”
• Adjustment – “This is hard—but I’m figuring it out.”

You may move through these feelings more than once. That’s completely normal.

Quiet, Consistent Support Can Make a Difference

You don’t have to figure everything out at once. And you don’t have to do it alone. Help Texts is here to support you through the emotional and practical challenges of job loss—with quiet, private messages, delivered to your phone.

At Help Texts, we recognize that job loss is a kind of grief. And with the right kind of support, it’s possible to move through that grief and start to rebuild.

There are no apps to download, and no pressure to talk. Just real support, from experts in grief and transition, sent straight to you.

With Help Texts, you’ll receive messages that help you:

• Understand your grief
• Regain clarity and confidence
• Stay motivated when things feel uncertain
• Take small, steady steps forward

It’s support that meets you where you are—and moves at your pace.

Sign up for Help Texts for Health and Well-being and select "Job Loss" from the list of topics you'd like help with.

To support someone you love through job loss, send a gift

About Help Texts

Help Texts is the world's leading clinically sound, scalable, bereavement intervention. We deliver affordable, multilingual support globally via text message for all of life's toughest moments. With extraordinary acceptability (95%) and 6-month retention (90%) rates, Help Texts' light-weight solution makes it easy for employers, providers, payers, and others to improve health and community outcomes, while also realizing significant cost savings for those in their care.

Life can be hard. Getting support shouldn't have to be. 💙 Help Texts is proud to be delivering personalized, expert grief and mental health support in 59 countries and 28 languages. All year long.

I also remembered that, when my husband died, I couldn't read. Anything more than a few sentences and I would lose my train of thought. So text messaging seemed perfect.

For the first few years after launching Help Texts (we were called Grief Coach back then), people either a) assumed we were an app or b) asked why we weren't an app. I'd built apps before, so at first I responded simply that text seemed like a low threshold, "we come to you" option for people deep in grief. Plus we wanted to send tips and support to friends and family who wanted to help their grieving loved ones, so text was the easiest way to remind them of special dates and send along quick suggestions.

Flash forward 10 years and I believe my decision to build a text messaging platform was the best decision I could possibly have made. I've learned a lot about the technology, psychology, neuroscience, and impact of text as a mental health intervention. Other technologies come and go, but everyone still loves text messages.

Here's what I've learned:

• Texts have high engagement and retention: 90% of people open a text within 3 minutes. 86% of Help Texts subscribers continue receiving texts for a full year.

• Texts break through barriers. They're low cost, and you don't need a smartphone or even the internet to access them. Our texts are written for a 7th grade reading level, which helps with accessibility and makes them translate well into other languages too.

• There's no stigma when receiving texts. They're a discreet, easy way to receive support, even for people who "don't want to talk about it." I think this is part of the reason that men love Help Texts as much as they do.

• I've now learned that text messages boost motivation. Unlike when we see app alerts or email pouring into our inboxes, receiving a text message feels good. It increases dopamine, which makes us feel cared for, which in turn boosts motivation and well-being.

• Texts are easy for friends and family to receive. Supporters appreciate that we send pragmatic, thoughtful tips and date reminders straight to their phones, where they'll always see them.

• Text makes it possible to tailor our grief support based on age, relationship, cause of death, time since death, and so much more.

• Our carefully curated text messages are safe, created by world-leading bereavement experts, and reviewed by thanatologists. Organizations can feel confident that the grief support they're delivering is safe, with clear guardrails and 24/7 crisis support available for all subscribers.

• Text messages work. Pure and simple. They're incredibly effective. Our published research shows a 95% satisfaction rate (even higher with men).

Here at Help Texts, our data speaks for itself. Nobody is asking me when we're launching an app anymore. Text messaging is so simple that it gets overlooked, but it's the simplicity that makes it powerful. Text does the work for you.

When life is hard, texts are easy. 💙

About Help Texts

Help Texts is the world's leading clinically sound, scalable, bereavement intervention. We deliver affordable, multilingual support globally via text message for all of life's toughest moments. With extraordinary acceptability (95%) and 6-month retention (90%) rates, Help Texts' light-weight solution makes it easy for employers, providers, payers, and others to improve health and community outcomes, while also realizing significant cost savings for those in their care.

Life can be hard. Getting support shouldn't have to be. 💙 Help Texts is proud to be delivering personalized, expert grief and mental health support in 62 countries and 29 languages. All year long.

I cannot count the number of times I heard comments like, “She was an addict. She deserved it.” or “What did she think would happen?” After her death, I often felt not only grief, but also the heavy burden of stigma. When people learned how she died, I was met with pity or probing questions about how hard it must have been to grow up with addicted parents.

It was hard, yes, but what most people missed is that my mom was so much more than her addiction.

She was a mother. A wife. She kept a house so clean you could literally eat off the floors. She was a gifted cook who could prepare meals better than most chefs in fine restaurants, seemingly without effort. She was hilarious. She loved deeply. She laughed often. Her life cannot and should not be reduced to the way it ended. Addiction was a disease she lived with, not her identity.

When she died, most people around me did not know what to say. Some said hurtful things. Others said nothing at all. And that silence can cut just as deeply as the stigma.

What to Say to Someone Grieving an Overdose

• Acknowledge the loss without judgment. Say, “I am sad to hear about your stepmom. She mattered, and I know you miss her.” Simple, honest words are better than silence.

• Use their loved one’s name. Names bring humanity back into the conversation. “What do you miss most about Sherry?” is often more comforting than broad sympathy.

• Validate the complexity. You might say, “I imagine this is a complicated kind of grief. I am here to listen if you want to share.” This recognizes that overdose grief can carry layers of stigma, anger, and love all at once.

• Remember their person beyond their death. Ask about their loved one’s hobbies, quirks, or traditions. Help keep their memory alive in ways not defined by addiction.

What Not to Say

• “They did this to themselves.” Addiction is not a moral failure. It is a disease. Comments like this dehumanize the person who died and wound those who grieve them.

• “You must be relieved.” Even if addiction strained relationships, assuming relief is deeply invalidating.

• “I know how you feel.” Unless you have also lost someone to overdose, avoid comparisons. Each grief experience is unique.

• Avoid silence. Grievers notice when their loved one’s name is never spoken again.

How to Show Up

Supporting someone grieving an overdose means holding space for both love and pain. It means remembering their person not only for how they died, but also for how they lived. It means recognizing addiction as an illness, not a moral flaw.

On this Overdose Awareness Day, I remember my stepmother for her laughter, her thoughtfulness, her love. And I invite you to do the same for those in your life who have been lost. Speak their names, honor their lives, and support their loved ones with compassion.

If you or someone you love is grieving an overdose, or if you want to know how to support someone who is, Help Texts can walk alongside you. We offer ongoing grief support by text message that includes gentle reminders, coping tips, and supportive guidance for both grievers and supporters. Subscriptions start at just $9.99: helptexts.com/get-help-texts/grief

About Help Texts

Help Texts is the world's leading clinically sound, scalable, bereavement intervention. We deliver affordable, multilingual support globally via text message for all of life's toughest moments. With extraordinary acceptability (95%) and 6-month retention (90%) rates, Help Texts' light-weight solution makes it easy for employers, providers, payers, and others to improve health and community outcomes, while also realizing significant cost savings for those in their care.

Life can be hard. Getting support shouldn't have to be. 💙 Help Texts is proud to be delivering personalized, expert grief and mental health support in 59 countries and 28 languages. All year long.

The study of 99 bereaved spouses found that those who frequently suppressed their emotions experienced significantly higher inflammation, a marker linked to cardiovascular disease and compromised immune function.

This matters because well-meaning friends and family often encourage grievers to "be strong" or "keep it together"—but this advice may actually cause long-term negative health outcomes.

The takeaway? Grief isn't just an emotional experience—it's a whole-body response. Supporting bereaved individuals means normalizing the full range of physical and emotional reactions they may experience.

This is exactly why we created Help Texts—to provide bereaved spouses with evidence-based information about both the physical reactions of grief and healthy coping strategies. Because understanding what's happening in your body can be the first step toward healing.

Here's the research if you want to dig in. https://lnkd.in/gtTJqJ-g

Research citation 👉 Lopez, R. , Brown, R. , Wu, E. , Murdock, K. , Denny, B. , Heijnen, C. & Fagundes, C. (2020). Emotion Regulation and Immune Functioning During Grief: Testing the Role of Expressive Suppression and Cognitive Reappraisal in Inflammation Among Recently Bereaved Spouses. Psychosomatic Medicine, 82 (1), 2-9. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000755.

Imagine being told that a group starts next Tuesday at 7 p.m. and runs for eight weeks. On paper, it sounds supportive and structured. But you are barely holding it together, and the idea of walking into a room of strangers, hearing their stories while carrying your own, feels impossible. Or you finally gather the courage to call for counseling, only to hear that the next available appointment is six weeks away. By then, the burst of strength it took to make the call has drained away.

We know the value of these services. Counseling offers a safe place to untangle complicated emotions. Groups create connection and reduce isolation. Hospice bereavement programs provide continuity after care ends. For many, these spaces are lifelines.

But not everyone can reach them, and not because they do not want help. The reasons are often obvious, but easy to overlook when we are designing support. Some grievers can't spare the time to travel or sit through a session. Others have children or caregiving duties that make attendance unrealistic. Some live far from resources or cannot afford them. And many simply do not have the emotional capacity to retell their story out loud on someone else’s timeline.

We hear this often from Help Texts subscribers. They tell us they chose text-based support because they could engage privately, when and how they felt ready. They didn't have to perform their grief in front of others or hold themselves together to speak aloud. Instead, they could take in support gently, and return to it when they had the energy.

This does not mean text messages are better than in-person care. It means that different formats meet different needs. The pros of traditional supports are real: depth, connection, accountability, and shared experience. But they also come with built-in challenges: scheduling, transportation, cost, and the emotional demand of being present with others. For some grievers, those challenges outweigh the benefits, at least for a time.

What we are missing as grief professionals is not the knowledge that people need help, but the recognition that the form of help matters just as much as the content. Wanting support and having the capacity to receive it are not the same thing.

So the invitation is this: how can we design support for the people with the least energy to spare? What would it look like to lower the threshold so that saying yes to care does not feel like another burden? How can we offer multiple doorways: structured groups for those who crave connection, counseling for those ready to go deeper, and gentler, lighter-touch options for those who are not there yet?

Practical shifts might look like:

• Offering shorter or drop-in groups for people who cannot commit to weeks of attendance.

• Following up with light, consistent touchpoints in between formal sessions.

• Creating private, self-paced resources for grievers who are not ready to share in a group.

• Building flexibility into existing services so missing a session does not mean losing support.

We may not be able to meet every need, but we can listen to what grieving people are telling us. When we do, we begin to create a grief support landscape that is more accessible, more compassionate, and more responsive to the full range of human grief.

Organizations can also strengthen their bereavement care by adding tools that meet people outside of traditional formats. Many partner with Help Texts as a way to bridge this gap, giving grievers ongoing support that complements counseling, groups, and hospice programs.

If you would like to see how Help Texts can fit into your suite of services, you can learn more at helptexts.com/for-organizations.

About Help Texts

Help Texts is the world's leading clinically sound, scalable, bereavement intervention. We deliver affordable, multilingual support globally via text message for all of life's toughest moments. With extraordinary acceptability (95%) and 6-month retention (90%) rates, Help Texts' light-weight solution makes it easy for employers, providers, payers, and others to improve health and community outcomes, while also realizing significant cost savings for those in their care.

Life can be hard. Getting support shouldn't have to be. 💙 Help Texts is proud to be delivering personalized, expert grief and mental health support in 59 countries and 28 languages. All year long.

Help Texts is the world's leading clinically sound, scalable bereavement intervention, delivering affordable, multilingual support globally via text message. With extraordinary acceptability (95%) and 6-month retention (90%) rates, our evidence-based solution helps donation organizations dramatically expand their aftercare impact while realizing significant operational savings.

Why Smart Donation Leaders Choose Help Texts

1. Dramatically Reduce Per-Person Aftercare Costs While Increasing Touch Points

Say you pay an aftercare coordinator a salary of $65,000 per year. If that coordinator is responsible for making calls, running support groups, and seeing families one-on-one, they're very limited in the number of people they can reach and serve each year (it will be fewer than 250 people).

If your coordinator provides individual sessions at $32/hour (based on a $65k salary), six sessions cost $192 per person, while 8-week group sessions average $170-212 per person. Help Texts delivers comprehensive year-long support for just $89 per person with package pricing—a 48-58% cost reduction—while providing 140+ meaningful interactions annually compared to 6-8 traditional touchpoints per person.

For a fraction of the price ($22,250 for a 250-subscription package), you can ensure comprehensive support for 250 families without adding staff or burdening your existing team. Your current coordinator can then focus on high-touch, specialized cases while Help Texts handles consistent, clinically sound outreach for your entire donor family population.

2. Reach Previously Underserved Populations and Fill Critical Service Gaps

Traditional aftercare programs struggle to engage men, adults over 65, families living out-of-state or in rural areas, and those with language barriers. Help Texts excels precisely where conventional services fall short:

• Men and older adults show especially high engagement rates with our text-based platform
• 28 languages ensure language barriers don't prevent families from receiving support
• Geographic flexibility means families can access grief support regardless of location
• Low-barrier format appeals to those who might never attend in-person groups or counseling

Your aftercare program can finally serve 100% of your donor families, not just those who can physically attend local services.

3. Build Stronger Support Networks Through Family and Friend Inclusion

Every Help Texts subscription includes support for two family members or friends, providing them with guidance on supporting their grieving loved one, important date reminders, and practical tips. This unique feature:

• Strengthens natural support systems around each donor family
• Reduces isolation during grief
• Creates a multiplier effect where multiple family members feel cared for by your organization
• Extends your organization's influence and positive reputation throughout families' social networks

4. Generate Measurable ROI Through Donor Ambassador Development

Strong aftercare programs create passionate advocates for donation. Help Texts systematically nurtures this transformation through personalized messaging that helps families find meaning in their loss and connection to your mission.

Real impact: Organizations using Help Texts report higher rates of families joining ambassador programs and increased community engagement. When families feel genuinely supported through their grief journey, they become authentic advocates who can influence future donation decisions in ways paid marketing never could.

"Text-based grief support is a proven family support pathway that makes it easy for organizations to elevate and streamline their aftercare experience, while simultaneously building a community of donation champions with every text." - DCI Donor Services Division Director

5. Free Your Team to Focus on High-Impact Activities While Reducing Burnout

Help Texts handles the consistent, personalized outreach that overwhelms aftercare coordinators, allowing your team to:

• Focus on in-person programming and donation events
• Reduce time spent on repetitive mailings and follow-up calls
• Concentrate on families with acute needs requiring personal intervention
• Feel confident that all families receive expert-level support, even when staff capacity is limited

Staff wellness bonus: Help Texts offers specialized support for your team members too, providing burnout prevention tips, communication scripts, and self-care strategies tailored to donation professionals.

Proven Results Donation Leaders Trust

Industry leaders consistently report Help Texts as their most effective aftercare service. Organizations see:

• 95% family satisfaction with the support received
• 90% retention through the full year of service
• 76% enrollment within the first six months of loss
• Cost savings of 48-58% compared to traditional grief services
• Expanded reach to populations previously difficult to serve

"Help Texts provides a simple, secure, low-cost aftercare solution that OPOs and tissue banks can use to deliver ongoing, highly personalized care for donor families. It's much more than just a technological solution—it's a strategic tool that can address current gaps in aftercare services while enhancing overall support." - Michael Clay, Industry Expert

Transform Your Aftercare Program Today

In an environment where donation organizations must do more with less while meeting rising family expectations, Help Texts offers the rare solution that simultaneously reduces costs, increases impact, and improves outcomes.

Your donor families deserve comprehensive support throughout their grief journey. Your organization deserves an aftercare solution that builds lasting advocacy while fitting within realistic budgets. Help Texts delivers both.

Ready to have Help Texts join your aftercare program? Contact us to learn how Help Texts can help your organization provide world-class grief support to every donor family while achieving significant cost savings and operational efficiency.

About Help Texts

Help Texts is the world's leading clinically sound, scalable, bereavement intervention. We deliver affordable, multilingual support globally via text message for all of life's toughest moments. With extraordinary acceptability (95%) and 6-month retention (90%) rates, Help Texts' light-weight solution makes it easy for employers, providers, payers, and others to improve health and community outcomes, while also realizing significant cost savings for those in their care.

Life can be hard. Getting support shouldn't have to be. 💙 Help Texts is proud to be delivering personalized, expert grief and mental health support in 62 countries and 29 languages. All year long.

Radical bravery means showing up for the hardest conversations, meeting people in their darkest moments, and refusing to let anyone navigate death or grief alone—especially those whom our systems have overlooked.

In honor of End Well's theme this year, we wanted to share why we believe Help Texts is radical bravery in action:

We meet people where they are: No appointments. No apps. No asking for help. Clinically sound support arrives when it's needed most—in their pockets, in their everyday lives.

We reach those left behind: Men looking for an alternative to support groups. Adults over 65. Rural communities without counselors. Non-English speaking families. The people traditional grief support often misses.

We normalize grief as part of being human: By offering ongoing non-invasive support, we send a powerful message: "Grief is expected. You're not broken. This is part of being human."

We make support radically accessible: 29 languages, 62 countries, any phone, no internet required. Because geographic location, income, or language should never determine who gets support.

We challenge the status quo: While healthcare chases complex technology, we leverage the simplest, most accessible tool—text messages—to reach the most people.

If radical bravery is about showing up, even when it’s hard - then Help Texts is radical bravery in action.

When someone you care about needs to open a bottle, tighten a screw, or cut a thread, you don't hand them a single tool and hope it works. You offer options. A Swiss Army knife succeeds not because any single blade is perfect, but because it provides the right tool for the moment at hand.

Grief support organizations should adopt this same philosophy.

The Limitations of Traditional Approaches

For decades, the grief support field has operated with a limited toolkit. When someone experiences loss, we typically offer two primary support options: individual therapy or support groups. These approaches are valuable and evidence-based, but they're not for everyone.

The 55-year-old man who recently had a parent die most likely won't attend therapy. The 70-year-old widow living in a rural community may not want to drive at night or may not even have access to a grief counselor within 50 miles. The Spanish-speaking mother whose child died traumatically may not be able to find culturally responsive care. The sandwich generation, juggling work, family, caregiving, and loss, probably doesn't have time for weekly appointments.

And yet, we continue to measure our success by the number of people we can funnel into these two traditional modalities. When people don't engage, we label them as "resistant" or "not ready" rather than acknowledging that our limited menu of options simply may not meet their needs.

A Public Health Approach to Grief Care

Adopting a Swiss Army knife approach means embracing a public health approach to grief care (Aoun et al., 2012) that recognizes different levels of need and different points of entry:

Level 0: Grief Literacy and Awareness - Educational materials, community awareness, and preventive resources that normalize grief and provide foundational information. This is where everyone starts. (100% of the population)

Level 1: General Support & Information - Self-paced resources, educational workshops, and technology-based support (such as texting) that provide structure without requiring intensive clinical involvement. (60% of the grieving population)

Level 2: Extra Support - Support groups and short-term peer counseling that provide higher levels of support with some clinical oversight. (30% of the grieving population)

Level 3: Intensive Specialized Care - Individual therapy for those with complex grief, suicidal ideation, or co-occurring conditions. (10% of the grieving population)

For years, funding has been focused on level 2-3 care, where only 10-30% of people fall. This means that very little funding has been focused on supporting the majority of grieving people.

The Underutilized Power of Text-Based Support

There's a critical tool missing from most organizations' kits, one that research data and real-world adoption across 62 countries show to be profoundly effective at reaching populations who don't utilize other forms of support.

Text-based grief support is emerging as one of the most impactful and cost-effective interventions available, and yet it remains vastly underutilized in the grief support landscape. In addition to traditional programs such as newsletters, virtual groups, and memorial events, comprehensive grief support programs should include accessible, multilingual, clinically approved text support.

Consider what we know about hard-to-reach populations:

Men represent one of the most underserved demographics in grief care. Men rarely attend support groups and often drop out of therapy - in fact, a recent study showed the overall dropout rate from therapy was 44.8%, of which 26.6% accessed therapy once and did not return (Seidler et al., 2021). But when men engage with text-based support, most complete a full year of support, and the response is powerful. Geoff, aged 47, who is grieving the death of his father, Gary, shared:

"I love the appropriate timing of the texts- they arrive during the waves of grief and provide simple, easy-to-follow instructions."

Older adults over 65 often face mobility challenges, transportation barriers, and generational stigma around mental health services. Joseph, a 70-year-old man whose wife, Mary, died from cancer, wrote:

"The encouragement is helping with my journey when I feel very low. This grief I am experiencing has been the most difficult experience of my 70 years of life. I am forever grateful. I appreciate the texts with my wife’s name included. It feels very personal. Please don't stop sending texts. I need all the help I can receive."

Rural populations face geographic isolation and limited access to specialized grief services. Text-based support transcends these barriers entirely. After losing her husband, Pete, of 55 years, Lynne shared,

"I am depressed and anxious, after three years of losing him. I am still not finding much success in getting support- I'd like to have a grief group near me. But there are none."

Non-English speakers encounter language barriers that prevent access to culturally responsive care. Text-based programs can deliver support in 29 languages, meeting people in their native tongue. Maria, a mother whose child Josue died, receives her support in Spanish. She shared:

"Me ha ayudado a trasformar la pérdida de Josue. No tuve elección sobre la muerte de mi hijo. Estoy aprendiendo a tener opciones dentro de mi dolor. Puedo elegir vivir mi vida en duelo perpetuo por mi hijo. O, por muy difícil que pueda parecerle en este momento, puedo optar por vivir una vida ahora diferente —pero vivirla plenamente, manteniendo vivos los recuerdos de Josue y las lecciones que, por muy larga o corta que haya sido la vida de mi hijo, aprendí de él. Vivir mi vida de esa manera será un tributo a mi hijo."

Translation: "It has helped me transform the loss of Josue. I had no choice about my son's death. I am learning to have choices within my grief. I can choose to live my life in perpetual mourning for my son. Or, as difficult as it may seem right now, I can choose to live a different life now—but live it fully, keeping alive the memories of Josue and the lessons I learned from him, however long or short his life may have been. Living my life that way will be a tribute to my son."

Traumatic loss survivors often find that well-meaning support falls short of understanding their unique experience. One of our subscribers, Christine, whose 12-year-old son Joseph died by suicide after extensive bullying, shared:

"The texts always seem to come exactly when I need them. I love all the messages. They have been very fitting. I can read them over and over. They are always there to reference back to or show someone else. I like that I could read it whenever I wanted to, and it was always there. It also has reached my soul in ways no one else could. The texts speak to my situation that most people just don't understand. I look forward to this so much. It's been a lifeline to me. I'm so thankful. Please don't stop. It has been a huge help."

Cultural stigma can prevent people from seeking out traditional forms of support. Texting is a private way to seek support. One of our subscribers, a sandwich generation adult caregiver daughter, Sherry-Ann, grieving her 70 y/o father, Grafton, shared:

"Getting support for grief is not something that we actively seek out in my culture. It is not spoken of. You just go on with your life as usual. I know that is not healthy and chose to break the cycle and seek help for myself. The messages allowed me to grieve MY WAY! Without outside interference!"

Why Text-Based Support Works

Text-based grief support succeeds because it addresses barriers that keep people from engaging with traditional services:

• Privacy: No one needs to know you're receiving support
• Accessibility: Works across geography, mobility limitations, and scheduling constraints
• Personalization: Messages can be tailored to loss type, relationship, and timeline
• Control: Grievers read and re-read messages when they're ready
• Low-barrier entry: No appointment scheduling, no commitment to showing up weekly, no pressure to respond, you just receive
• Scalability: Reaches thousands at a fraction of the cost of one-on-one counseling
• Persistence: Messages provide support for as long as you need, whether it's for 6 months, 1 year, or 3 years

The Case for Comprehensive Care

Grief is not uniform, timing is not linear, and what helps one person at three weeks post-loss may be completely different from what another person needs at three years. We need a Swiss Army Knife approach that provides different modalities for different grieving styles and needs.

Someone might need Level 1 support immediately after a loss (texting and education), Level 2 support (support groups) during the first year, and then Level 3 support (therapy) later on. Or they might only ever need Levels 1 and 2, and that's okay. The goal isn't to move everyone up the ladder of intensity. The goal is to meet people where they are and provide access to support that fits their actual needs, when they need it.

Moving Forward

If your mission is to provide meaningful grief support and reduce isolation, ask yourself: Does our programming reflect the diversity of our community's needs? Are we offering tools that work for the 55-year-old man who won't come to a support group? The 70-year-old widow who lives an hour from the nearest therapist? The Spanish-speaking parent who needs culturally attuned care?

If text-based support isn't part of your Swiss Army knife yet, the data is clear: you're missing a tool that reaches populations who aren't accessing your other services, populations who are telling us, in their own words, that this approach is meeting them where they are, speaking to their unique situations, and quite literally providing a lifeline.

The Swiss Army knife approach isn't about doing more for the sake of doing more. It's about recognizing that grief is as diverse as the people who experience it and that our responsibility as support providers is to offer multiple pathways to healing, knowing that the right tool at the right moment can make all the difference.

Six Lessons Learned in a Turbulent Year

It was December 2015 — a decade ago — that I flew home from a dear friend’s funeral in Toronto. He was the best friend of my husband, who had died by suicide years earlier. I spent the 5-hour flight thinking about the loneliness of grief, and brainstorming ways to make sure nobody ever had to grieve alone. By the time I landed I'd mapped out a text-based grief support service that I imagined might one day deliver expert, tailored, tips and wisdom to grievers around the world.

There have been a lot of 16-hour days since then. I’ve learned so much in the last ten years as we’ve built Help Texts into the company I dreamed it could be. Some of my biggest lessons learned came in the last year as nearly everything became uncertain. Government funding cuts and layoffs hit us hard. The AI investment frenzy was making people do all kinds of crazy things. Turnover was so dizzying that we were training new employees and meeting new customer leads every week, it seemed.

But, as in grief, challenges are what really give us a chance to test our mettle. When things turn upside down, we see what we’re capable of.

As we turn the corner to 2026, I realize that the ups & downs of 2025 showed me just how resilient and vital Help Texts has become. Instead of waiting for policy shifts and more stable markets, we acted on what we could see, worked with new partners, and adjusted without drama. We embarked on research with partners including the University of Miami, UCLA, and Canada’s National Research Council. We launched a brand new product focused on healthy aging, as well as a powerful Bereavement Cost Calculator for payers. We made the move to monthly, pay-as-you-go pricing too. I’m proud of my team for being willing to keep moving, even when things were unclear.

Here are just a few of the things we learned as we bobbed and weaved.

We learned that retention is the strongest signal of usefulness

Help Texts now supports subscribers in 50 states and 61 countries. That’s meaningful, but what matters even more is what happens after people engage.

In 2025, we saw a 93% customer renewal rate, including our first multi-year renewals. We saw organizations expand within their accounts, adopting multiple programs over time.

Despite massive uncertainty and financial pressures, Help Texts’ customers chose to continue offering Help Texts to their employees, bereaved families, and communities. So while things around us were chaotic, we saw that text remains a powerful and effective tool. We learned that results matter and that our customers would stick with us, even when times were tough.

We learned that accessibility builds trust

One of the clearest lessons this year was that improving accessibility is always a win. From the beginning, Help Texts has focused on removing the barriers to grief and mental health support. We write for a 7th-grade reading level, are available in 28 languages, and don’t require a Zoom connection or smartphone. In 2025 we tackled the biggest barrier of all: cost. We spent the better half of Q2 moving Help Texts to a new payment processor so that we could — at last — offer pay-as-you-go, monthly subscriptions.

Reducing up-front costs and making monthly subscriptions available quickly opened the door to exciting revenue share partnerships with charities. It also made it possible for us to offer more flexible, affordable, PMPM, and PEPM pricing for payers and employers, and increased consumer uptake too.

We learned that AI is not an end in itself

At Help Texts, we listen carefully to our customers, and to prospective customers too. As investors fell over themselves for the latest AI innovations, we noticed that health authorities, healthcare providers, researchers, and bereavement professionals were increasingly uneasy about putting GenAI in front of their vulnerable populations.

At the same time, we knew that AI could exponentially increase our ability to conduct sentiment analysis, assess response needs, and quickly catch signs of crisis from our subscribers around the world. We secured federal funding to conduct AI research in 2025, which has been transformative for Help Texts and — because we like to share what we learn — will be transformative for the bereavement field overall. My Chief Clinical Officer, Melissa Lunardini, will be sharing our learnings next year at the Association for Death Education & Counseling (ADEC) national conference in Maryland, at the National Association for Children’s Grief (NACG) conference in Texas, and at the International Death, Dying, and Bereavement (IDDB) conference in Wisconsin.

AI has enormous potential, but it's critical to balance novelty, efficiency, and judgment, especially when working with at risk populations. I’m proud that Help Texts' leaned into AI in 2025, established ourselves as thought leaders, and found responsible ways to make our platform more efficient than ever.

We learned that grief is very, very expensive

We worked with a lot of healthcare providers, payers, and big thinkers in 2025 to launch the Bereavement Cost Calculator as a way to illustrate that grief is very — VERY — expensive. In addition to the significant human impacts, research shows that bereavement leads to a 20%-30% increase in health care utilization.

Having the opportunity to ratchet up my own learning & understanding of the US healthcare system was a big deal in 2025. I’m grateful to all the leaders who shared their time and wisdom with me and hope the calculator nudges health plans - especially Medicare Advantage plans - to quickly offer grief support as a way to offset the hundreds of millions of dollars they’re spending annually (usually without realizing it) to support bereaved members.

We learned the immense value of a disciplined outside perspective

I am incredibly lucky to have world-class experts who believe in Help Texts (and in me) and have offered to put in real time to help me expand this year. I launched an advisory board in 2025 and am deeply grateful to Mike Stein, Matthew Holt, Matt Walters, Galen Buckwalter, Ken Black, Sam Blackman, Katrina Spade, and James Sherrett for spending countless hours with me this year, helping me think BIG about the power of text to bring people from hopelessness to hopefulness.

Spending time with brilliant people this year has been — well — brilliant!

We learned what actually matters

2025 was stressful and unpredictable, and my team rose to the occasion. I’m immensely grateful to the Help Texts’ team for their courage, determination, & creativity under pressure. It’s working with them every day, to support people often in their darkest times, that matters the most to me. I’ll bob and weave every day of every year, if it means I can keep making a difference and hearing feedback like these messages we received in December:

“These texts have been amazing. They make me understand how I’m feeling is normal and all part of the grieving process.”

"Your texts have reached my soul in ways no one else could. They speak to my situation that most people just don’t understand.”

“I look forward to these texts so much. They’ve been a life line to me. Please don’t stop. They have been a huge help."

The world may be uncertain, but I’ve never been more certain that the work we’re doing at Help Texts really matters. I’m closing out the year feeling more grateful and proud than ever, to be doing this work.

The following is not a to-do list. Think of it as a menu of low-pressure yet intentional ways to acknowledge this tender day. Take what feels right, leave the rest.

In the days or weeks leading up

It is normal to find yourself feeling anxious, easily irritated, restless, heavy, or just a little off. Often this happens subconsciously, and we may not even connect it to grief. But your body knows and remembers what is coming.

Here are a few ways to acknowledge your loved one and your grief during the days before, if any of them feel right for you:

• Bring their things out: If it feels right, you might bring out photos, clothing, or something that belonged to them and let those items sit out in your space for a while, instead of packed away.
• Carry something they taught you: Consider writing down one thing they taught you and fold it into your pocket or bag for the day.
• Wear their colors: Some people find it helps to wear their loved one's favorite color or to take a walk and photograph everything they see in that color. A small way to move through the world with them in mind.
• Write to them: If writing is something you turn to, consider writing a letter, a toast, a haiku, or some song lyrics. Nothing has to come of it; it's more about the process and the intention rather than the outcome. You can keep it private or share it with someone.
• Eat or drink their favorite things: Their favorite meal, dessert, or drink. Simple, and more meaningful than it might sound.
• Do something kind in their name: If it feels right, you might consider doing something small for a stranger like buying someone's coffee, giving your loose change away, complimenting someone randomly, or holding a door and quietly dedicate that action to them.
• Order coffee under their name: Some people find it meaningful to put a coffee order in under their person's name, just to hear it called. You might try it if you are curious how that would feel.
• Play their favorite music: Listen to their favorite genre, song, or album. You can decide how much time you devote to this. One song, one hour, or one evening, etc. You have permission to start it and turn it off whenever you'd like.

On the day itself

Have a plan, even a loose one. You do not have to follow it exactly. But having some shape to the day means you are not making decisions from scratch when your emotional capacity may already be low.

Try starting the morning off with something that acknowledges the day. Doing this can really help. Once you have done that — once you have said, in whatever way feels right, I know what today is — the rest of the day tends to feel more manageable.

• Mark the morning: Consider starting the day with something small and intentional. A candle, their favorite breakfast, a prayer, looking at photos. It doesn't need to be much.
• Let people in: If you have the energy for it, try being with people who loved them too — or who love you — doing this can help make the weight of grief feel easier to carry. And you do not have to talk about your grief the entire time…unless you want to.
• Make some room for yourself too: You might also find you need some quiet time with your own thoughts, away from others. While this feels like it contradicts the point above to be with others, it is important to remember that both are okay. There is no right ratio of company to solitude.
• Rest if you can: A nap, some quiet time. Death anniversary days can take a lot out of you. So it can be helpful to manage your pace in a way that honors resting too.
• Put yourself in the way of beauty: If you have the time and energy, consider walking through a park, being by water, noticing flowers or a particularly beautiful view. Nature asks nothing of you but gives you so much.

In the days after

People often describe the days after an anniversary as feeling hungover, foggy, or like they are coming down with something.

That is normal. Your body has been bracing for days. Plan for some extra slowness, and try not to worry too much. It usually resolves in a few days. If you can, try the following:

• If there is any flexibility in your schedule, taking an extra day off can help.
• Having comfort food already made in the fridge can help.
• Staying hydrated. Grief can be physically dehydrating.
• Being gentle with your body can help: doing some light stretching, a bath, a slow walk. This is about nurturing your body.
• Rest when you can.

While there is no right way to acknowledge a death anniversary, it is important to find the ways that work best for you. You can mark it or let it pass quietly. Be with people or be alone. Feel everything or feel nothing. All of it is allowed.

We hope this helps. 💛

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into grief and bereavement care represents a significant technological shift with therapeutic potential and ethical complexity. This paper establishes evidence-informed assumptions and principles to guide the responsible development and use of AI technologies in grief support, addressing the needs of bereaved individuals, families, communities, professionals, technology developers, and policymakers. We define “Grief AI” as applications spanning five core technological domains: Natural Language Processing for information seeking and therapeutic conversations; Computer Vision for emotion analysis and immersive experiences; Machine Learning for trajectory forecasting and treatment matching; Conversational and Generative AI for grief bots; and Integrated Multimodal AI incorporating advanced autonomous systems. The paper classifies these applications into low-, medium-, and high-risk categories based on factors including depth of user engagement, AI autonomy, potential for psychological harm, level of human supervision, and posthumous consent considerations. The paper acknowledges unresolved tensions regarding the authenticity of AI-generated empathy, cultural evolution versus inappropriate technologization of sacred experiences, implications for healthy grief adaptation, environmental ethics, and professional transformation. These provocations highlight the need for ongoing dialogue as the field evolves. We conclude that AI technologies can complement human-centered grief support through responsible development characterized by interdisciplinary collaboration, transparency, cultural sensitivity, and an unwavering commitment to human dignity and welfare over commercial interests.

The LCBO is one of Canada's largest retailers and wholesalers, with more than 8,000 employees working at their retail stores, distribution centres, and offices across Ontario. Given that over a third of working-age adults are grieving a recent loss at any given time, the LCBO’s leadership team recognized that they had thousands of grieving employees, who were all at increased risk for anxiety, depression, illness, substance use, workplace accidents, and lost work.

While bereavement leave may end after a few days or weeks, LCBO’s team knew that grief can last a long time. They also knew that many of their grieving employees weren't receiving support outside of work due to barriers like cost, language, stigma, and availability.

For Lilian Riad-Allen, the LCBO's Senior Director for Workplace Health, Safety & Wellness, the problem was personal. When her mom died in 2021, she knew she needed help but quickly discovered that grief support is hard to find. Luckily she discovered and signed up for grief support from Help Texts, a company offering tailored, gentle bereavement care via text. Lilian found the personalized messages genuinely helpful.

Help Texts gave me practical ways to ground back into myself and process my loss in a supportive and loving way.

— Lilian Riad-Allen, Senior Director, Workplace Health, Safety & Wellness

When Lilian started sharing her experience with grief openly at work, colleagues started sharing too, and she realized how many people around her were quietly managing loss. She began advocating for grief support for every LCBO employee.

The solution

In 2023, the LCBO started working with Help Texts to offer a full year of personalized grief support to all 8,000 of their employees. Messages are expert-written and tailored to each person's loss, including their relationship, cause of death, age, and time since loss, and support is available in English, French, and dozens of other languages.

Better yet, when grieving employees sign up for text support, they can also invite their colleagues, friends, and family members to receive tips and date reminders to help them know what to say and how to help. Kayla Smith, who worked alongside Lilian to launch the program, had used the supporter texts herself:

It can be difficult knowing what the 'right' thing is to say or how to show up. To say that I learned a lot from Help Texts would be an understatement. I was given so many new tools and new language to help me be there for my friend.

— Kayla Smith, Senior Manager, Health, Safety & Wellness Programs

The results

Three years of steady enrollment, with no signs of slowing.

Since launching in 2023, employee enrollment has grown consistently every year. Enrollment climbs steadily as new losses happen and awareness of the benefit spreads across the organization.

On average employees stay subscribed for more than 6 months.

Enrolled employees receive support for more than 6 months, a sign that the messages keep earning their place on people’s phones long after the first weeks of loss.

Here's what one LCBO employee said about receiving text support

When my father passed unexpectedly it was the hardest experience I had ever encountered. I personally didn't feel grief counseling or therapy was helpful to me, but when I was made aware of Help Texts I said yes to signing up and have been finding it very helpful. Twice a week I get messages that resonate with how I feel with losing someone so close to me and I look forward to each new message. Help Texts is a tool I highly recommend for anyone who has lost someone close to them.

— Thomas Georgakopoulos, Director of Retail Strategy and Analytics

Why it works

The science behind text-based grief support

Help Texts is built on a simple insight: grief support works best when it's easy to receive. For employees already managing the weight of loss alongside shifts, deadlines, and daily life, low friction is everything.

Our published research shows a 95% satisfaction rate, with even higher ratings among men and people over 65, two populations historically less likely to seek out traditional grief support.

For the LCBO, Help Texts delivers consistent, personalized support to grieving employees wherever they work, without adding administrative load for the wellness team. It's a model other Canadian employers are starting to notice.

Empathia, Inc. has partnered with Help Texts to further expand the support options available to its members. Help Texts is a secure, private, and easy way to get meaningful grief support when dealing with a loss.

In this interview with Sohil Parekh, Help Texts' CEO Emma Payne says that bereavement is a public health experience - something that affects us all. Bereavement care should be a public health intervention. What if Medicare or Medicaid were to fund bereavement care for ALL hospice families? Everyone would get the required 13 months of grief support in a MUCH more efficient way. We’ve already done this in the UK, where we are actually being made available free of charge to every UK citizen. I’m excited about the much bigger public health type models that we can get going in the US as well.