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VAIL VALLEY, Colorado — All of the memories we love about Christmas and the holidays can also be the most painful — that's why a church and nonprofit in Colorado's Vail Valley are coming together to give people a place to grieve and cope.
The Samaritan Center of the Rockies, a counseling center in Edwards, and the Eagle River Presbyterian Church, near Avon, are collaborating on two programs next week for anyone having a tough time this holiday season, specifically those who have experienced loss and need to ease the pain.
“This year has been a hard year,” said Randy Simmonds, an ordained minister and the clinical director at the Samaritan Center. “There needs to be a healing process.”
The economic downturn has had ripple effects on people's lives this year. Locally, drug and alcohol abuse among teenagers, suicides, domestic violence and are on the rise, according to reports from nonprofits like the Bright Future Foundation and the Eagle River Youth Coalition. The Eagle County Sheriff's Office data also show an increase in suicides. Samaritan Center Executive Director Elizabeth Myers said she estimates there's been about a suicide a week in Eagle County this year.
“When there's a loss like that, the entire holiday season just brings such a reminder of that loss for people,” Simmonds said.
Loss can mean anything from the death of a loved one to missing family members that are far away to divorce to the loss of a job, Simmonds said.
The Samaritan Center is hosting “A Grief Workshop” Thursday — Simmonds hopes people who attend will be able to simplify the holidays so it's not such an overwhelming time, he said.
Rob Wilson, head pastor at the Eagle River Presbyterian Church, said the workshop, and his “A Blue Christmas Service,” are meant to bring people together who can help each other get through the holidays. The workshop will be more interactive and should provide ways for people to share ideas to create new holiday traditions, Simmonds said.
A widow or widower, for example, might be used to celebrating the holidays in the same ways they have for decades, but without their husband or wife around those traditions become painful reminders. The workshop should help people learn how to deal with that stress and make changes to their normal routines, he said.
The church service is a different atmosphere, Wilson said. It will be a quiet place that's “contemplative and thoughtful,” he said.
“It's not a busy, overdone kind of service,” Wilson said. “It's a time for prayer, a time for reflection.”
Wilson remembers one man who came to the service a few years ago who ended up coming to the church regularly afterwards. Wilson saw how positive the man became.
“It can be the doorway to healing,” Wilson said. “I don't care if just five people walk through the door, it's about healing.”
Simmonds said there's something about sitting together with others who have gone through similar experiences that provides a healing in and of itself.
“There is something bigger than the sum of the parts,” Simmonds said. “There is a community experience and bonding.”
Lauren Glendenning can be reached at 970-748-2983 or lglendenning@vaildaily.com
The Samaritan Center of the Rockies, a counseling center in Edwards, and the Eagle River Presbyterian Church, near Avon, are collaborating on two programs next week for anyone having a tough time this holiday season, specifically those who have experienced loss and need to ease the pain.
“This year has been a hard year,” said Randy Simmonds, an ordained minister and the clinical director at the Samaritan Center. “There needs to be a healing process.”
The economic downturn has had ripple effects on people's lives this year. Locally, drug and alcohol abuse among teenagers, suicides, domestic violence and are on the rise, according to reports from nonprofits like the Bright Future Foundation and the Eagle River Youth Coalition. The Eagle County Sheriff's Office data also show an increase in suicides. Samaritan Center Executive Director Elizabeth Myers said she estimates there's been about a suicide a week in Eagle County this year.
“When there's a loss like that, the entire holiday season just brings such a reminder of that loss for people,” Simmonds said.
Loss can mean anything from the death of a loved one to missing family members that are far away to divorce to the loss of a job, Simmonds said.
The Samaritan Center is hosting “A Grief Workshop” Thursday — Simmonds hopes people who attend will be able to simplify the holidays so it's not such an overwhelming time, he said.
Rob Wilson, head pastor at the Eagle River Presbyterian Church, said the workshop, and his “A Blue Christmas Service,” are meant to bring people together who can help each other get through the holidays. The workshop will be more interactive and should provide ways for people to share ideas to create new holiday traditions, Simmonds said.
A widow or widower, for example, might be used to celebrating the holidays in the same ways they have for decades, but without their husband or wife around those traditions become painful reminders. The workshop should help people learn how to deal with that stress and make changes to their normal routines, he said.
The church service is a different atmosphere, Wilson said. It will be a quiet place that's “contemplative and thoughtful,” he said.
“It's not a busy, overdone kind of service,” Wilson said. “It's a time for prayer, a time for reflection.”
Wilson remembers one man who came to the service a few years ago who ended up coming to the church regularly afterwards. Wilson saw how positive the man became.
“It can be the doorway to healing,” Wilson said. “I don't care if just five people walk through the door, it's about healing.”
Simmonds said there's something about sitting together with others who have gone through similar experiences that provides a healing in and of itself.
“There is something bigger than the sum of the parts,” Simmonds said. “There is a community experience and bonding.”
Lauren Glendenning can be reached at 970-748-2983 or lglendenning@vaildaily.com
