GOOD GRIEF MOVEMENT

HELP US #REGROWTO

The Good Grief Movement is a grass-roots initiative aimed at processing post-pandemic pain
and mental health strain via collective creative expression: therapeutic gardening, free-style art,
and mindful movement. The goal of the project is to create oases of respite, for the community
and by the community. By enhancing outdoor public spaces with “grief gardens” and inviting
residents to decorate them with an assortment of personal objects to commemorate loss of
any kind, communities can begin to re-emerge from the dark isolation created by the
pandemic.

Complimenting these spaces with social programming like bereavement meet-ups,
mindfulness-based art programs, and stress relief yoga gives people a safe and beautiful place
to explore their feelings Their inaugural site is midtown’s picturesque June Rowlands Park.
With generous seed funding from the Toronto Leaside Rotary Club, and an ongoing Charity
Village crowd-funding campaign as part of the group’s larger #ReGrowTO initiative, AppleTree
hopes to showcase this new model of grieving in other parts of the city and commemorate the
collective strength and resilience of Torontonians...one plant at a time.