Our Story

Wild Grief began over dinner-table conversations in early 2015, by people experienced in leading peer grief support for children, teens and parents. The founders met and dreamed: “What would it be like if we could take grieving people out to the wilderness?” We looked for a place to hold our dream and realized that we needed to create that space in our community – so Wild Grief was born.

Our vision increased to providing this kind of support for the entire community; everywhere we turned there were people yearning for the chance to share their stories while walking side-by-side in nature. Doors began to open for us before we reached them! Wild Grief started as a volunteer run organization, and we put time and love into the work to achieve our first hikes in 2017, our first overnight trip in 2018, and our first staff in 2019.

During the Covid-19 pandemic we adapted and built programs that continued to encourage people to get outside and connect remotely with others who are grieving. It was helpful to our growth to have to change and transform to meet the needs of our community. In 2022 we expanded our programs significantly; launching our Family Journey Campout, offering five multi-day backpacks, and developing our partner program in Spanish. After that big year of growth, we hired a development director to raise funds to make our expansion possible and a field director to manage our program logistics.

Looking to the future we plan to continue to grow organically and serve our community by offering peer based grief support in the beauty of natural spaces.