Michele Neff Hernandez on Camp Widow and Other Soaring Spirits Programs for Widowed People

I had such a great discussion with Michele Neff Hernandez for this episode. Michele is the founder and executive director of Soaring Spirits International, which runs Camp Widow in multiple locations each year, as well as many other programs for widowed people.

Soaring Spirits uses the broadest possible definition of “widowed” to include anyone who has lost their life partner. They have a very active blog, a widowed pen pal program, and the terrific new Soaring Spirits Resilience Center that is doing really exciting research.

Some topics Michele and I discuss include:

• Her own journey to becoming widowed when her kids were young;

• Not knowing any other young widowed people until someone finally connected her with another widow who would become a lifelong friend;

• How Camp Widow came about on the back of a napkin on a long drive;

• What to expect if you attend Camp Widow;

• The opportunity to access Camp Widow Virtual workshops until April 30, 2020;

• The Resilience Scale available free on the Soaring Spirits Resilience Center web site;

• What they’ve learned from studying resilience in widowed people;

• Their widowed pen pal program and the Widow’s Voice blog;

• Their free packets for newly widowed people; and

• What Michele’s analogy about earthquakes says about how losing a spouse differs from losing a parent.

I hope you enjoy my discussion with Michele Neff Hernandez.

Links & resources for this episode

• Soaring Spirits International

• Camp Widow

• Soaring Spirits Resilience Center

More links for listeners

• Download: Kids & Grief: What You Need to Know

• Article: I’m a Widowed Mom: Here Are My 3 Tips for COVID-19 Widows

• Book: Widowed Parents Unite: 52 Tips to Get Through the First Year, from One Widowed Parent to Another

Thank you sponsors & partners:

Help Texts - Grief support text messaging service. Tips and support delivered all year long, personalized based on your loss. Listeners get $10 off: https://helptexts.com/jennylisk

BetterHelp - Talk with a licensed, professional therapist online. Get 10% off your first month: betterhelp.com/widowedparent

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