A Losstender is supported and guided to extend care to strangers, holding space for grief and loss through artistic and embodied practices. As a Losstender, you will:

Co-learn: Share practices as a cohort and encounter diverse wisdom about the experience of grief & loss

Recruit: Work as a team to share & demonstrate your offer with folks with IDD (Intellectual and Developmental Disability) and their families and staff who support them.

Hold space & model creative expression: to acknowledge and move emotions relating to grief & loss, through creative practices, leaving people with an artifact of their experience

Debrief: Maintain a debriefing practice throughout with the cohort and Circle of Support

Make grief visible: Help plan events to prompt public witnessing of grief & loss

September 2025 to February 2026

16 hours for the Onboarding Retreat (sometime during Sep 15 - Sep 19)

After that, approximately 5-6 hours a week from October 2025 to February 2026

This is an opportunity to parlay your artistic/ embodied skills into practices of grassroots care & community connection, with great support, and oversight to minimize the potential for harm.

1. Honorarium: $1800CAD

2. Constructive feedback and hands on learning

3. Group learning process on inter-cultural grief & loss

4. Mentorship: from knowledge holders of different cultural & spiritual backgrounds

5. The art of making moments: ritual design, and meaningful interactions, even with strangers

6. Confidence & skills: around how to show up for people, in life