ERIKA WHITMORE GODWIN FOUNDATION
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Mission Statement
The Erika Whitmore Godwin Foundation, known as griefHaven, provides unique, cutting edge, grief support to those suffering the deaths of someone they love. The foundation's specialty is the death of a child, although all losses are supported. Through its website, griefHaven.org, people are able to access a huge variety of different approaches to dealing with grief 24/7. The Foundation continually adds new grief tools, making sure that there is something for everyone at all different periods in their grief journeys. There is no other organization providing the holistic grief support that the Foundation provides today.
About This Cause
Susan and Wendell Whitmore thought their dreams had come true when they looked at what a lifetime of dedication and commitment had brought: a loving marriage and family, a close, meaningful relationship with their only child, Erika, charity work, and successful business careers. While Susan and Erika eagerly planned Erika’s wedding to Canadian citizen Sandy Godwin, they received the shocking news─Erika’s headaches were, in fact, symptoms of an extremely rare sinus cancer which would need immediate treatment or Erika would die within three weeks. Susan, Wendell and Sandy put their lives on hold and became dedicated to Erika’s care. Since Erika lived in Canada and her tumor was so rare, she was forced to return to the United States to seek treatment. Erika ended up at UCLA Medical Center where one patient had been treated in the past. Erika fought hard, yet one year later, despite unwavering efforts, she died, surrounded by her loving family. The pain Susan and Wendell experienced was beyond anything they had ever imagined, and they knew they needed help. Susan began a relentless search for any support available to grieving parents, but quickly learned that the choices were few--that what she actually needed simply did not exist. Susan needed some source of hope just to be able to get out of bed each day. It was then that she discovered nothing offered as much hope as talking to another parent who had also lost a child--a parent who fully understood her pain and her journey. That is when Susan founded The Erika Whitmore Godwin Foundation and its sister website, griefHaven, as a means for grieving parents to easily access support, to communicate with one another, and to use all of the unique and effective support tools on the website. That is also when Susan left her legal career, and the Foundation was born. Susan’s first major project for The Erika Whitmore Godwin Foundation was serving as a producer, writer, interviewer, and participant for the moving and hope-inspiring documentary film, Portraits of Hope: The Parent's Journey. Portraits of Hope delves into the lives of a diverse group of parents who talk about their journeys from the initial loss onward through the years, and it also includes specialists in diverse fields of grief. These parents share how they have gone on to build lives of new meaning and purpose, with the specialists solidifying the various aspects of the grief journey. Portraits of Hope has touched the lives of thousands, giving new hope to people all over the world. The film is also an educational tool regularly accessed by grief specialists. Today, the griefHaven website receives over a million visits a year and includes many different approaches to dealing with grief because everyone grieves differently and thus needs different approaches. Further, what might work for someone in the first year may not be helpful down the road. The Foundation has grown tremendously over the last 11 years now includes The Friends of griefHaven organization who meet monthly to brainstorm and create fundraising events and tools. Further, although the Foundation started out as a support organization for the death of a child has since grown to include all other losses. Today, the Foundation is known all over the world and regularly receives emails and phone calls from other specialists who have no means of providing appropriate or current support materials. Therefore, the Foundation also provides support materials to organizations around the world to be given to their clients and patients. Some of these include a Packet of Hope, grief pin, quarterly newsletter entitled The Journey, cutting edge scientific information and techniques to help with PTSD and grief, access to everything on the griefHaven website 24/7, Now You Know TV blogs, videos, ways to memorialize those you love, grief groups, one-on-one grief counseling, free or sliding scale counseling, and much more. The science of grief and the Now You Know TV blogs have become two of the Foundation's newest ventures in the last five years. Susan Whitmore connected with Dr. O'Connor from UCLA where fMRIs were being used to look into the grieving brain, as well as other scientific communities to keep on top of the latest research involving PTSD, grief, depression, etc. Since that time, Susan and the Foundation use scientific and proven grief support methods in their work. The Now You Know TV blogs are three- to five-minute videos sharing current and appropriate information that will give people a greater understanding of how to live a fully embraced life. The Foundation has been featured in newspapers, magazines, publications, TV shows, and the radio, including Brentwood Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, People Magazine, Palisadian Post, Palisades 90272, Santa Monica Magazine, Bel-Air Magazine, Beverly Hills Magazine, Malibu Magazine, W Magazine, Michael Josephson’s nationally syndicated Character Counts radio commentaries, NPR Radio, and Good Morning America. The Foundation’s resources are regularly referenced at conferences and symposiums around the world. With all of that, the Foundation has never received a grant and depends solely on private donations. Despite researching and applying for grants, it seems that none are available to help those who are grieving. This continues to be surprising given that grief, which is truly a health issue as well if not handled properly, will touch the lives of everyone at some point. Today, The Erika Whitmore Godwin Foundation, aka griefHaven, continues to touch the lives, hearts, and minds of those who have lost a beloved and those who want to know how to better support those who are grieving. We say that the only wrong way to grieve is not to grieve at all. Yet those who are close to the griever can make an enormous difference in how that person rebuilds his or her life after losing someone he or she loves. That is why educating the public in general about grief, the myths that continue to abound surrounding grief, and exactly what to do and not do when someone is grieving is an essential element and a great passion for the Foundation. Education not only for the griever to better understand what is happening to him or her and what can be done about it but also for the person who wants to properly support that person is essential.