Mourner Support: Tools and Resources

Bay Area Resources for Mourners

Numerous Bay Area organizations offer a range of support programs for mourners, including counseling, hotlines, and special programs for young people. A sampling of these organizations is listed in alphabetical order.

Bay Area Jewish Healing Center (San Francisco, Peninsula, Marin, and Sonoma)
(415) 750-4197
Offers bereavement spiritual support groups, individual counseling, healing prayer, and bereavement camp for children and families

Camp Erin (Livermore)
(415) 230-6310
Offers a free grief support weekend for children and teens ages 6 to 17 coping with loss

Centre for Living with Dying/Bill Wilson Center (Santa Clara)
(408) 243-0222
Offers individual and group support for adults, children, and families

Circle of Care/East Bay Agency for Children (Oakland)
(510) 531-7551
Offers support groups and individual counseling for children, teens, and families

The Compassionate Friends (Bay Area chapters in Burlingame, Oakland, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Napa, San Rafael, and Walnut Creek)
(877) 969-0010
Offers peer-led grief support after the death of a child

Contra Costa Crisis Center (Walnut Creek)
(800) 837-1818
Offers individual counseling by trained volunteers in clients' homes or at Walnut Creek office. Also provides grief support program for adults, children, and teens, as well as a 24-hour grief support hotline

Crisis Support Services (Oakland)
(800) 309-2131
Offers grief support for individuals, families, and groups in Alameda County. Also provides general grief support, as well as support for survivors of homicide or suicide.

Family Service Agency of Marin (San Rafael)
(415) 499-1195
Provides 24-hour-a-day hotline for grief counseling. Also provides counselors for ongoing support.

Family Service of the Tri-Cities (Fremont)
(510) 574-2100
Offers counseling for youth and their families

HAND (Helping After Neonatal Death) (sites include Alameda, Contra Costa, and Santa Clara Counties)
(888) 908-4263 (24-hour-a-day grief support)
(888) 908-4263 (office)
Offers support group and on-line resources

Hope Hospice (Dublin)
(925) 829-8770
Offers individual counseling and grief support groups for adults, children, and teens

Hospice by the Bay (San Francisco, Marin, and Sonoma Counties)
(415) 526-5699 or (707) 931-7299
Offers individual counseling and support groups for adults and children

Hospice of Petaluma (Petaluma)
(707) 778-6242, ext. 122
Offers individual counseling and groups for children, teens, and adults

Hospice of the Valley (San Jose)
(408) 559-5600
Offers individual and group support counseling, with programs for children and adolescents

Institute on Aging (San Francisco)
415-750-4111
Offers one-on-one counseling and grief support groups. Some groups specialize in traumatic and suicide loss. IOA Friendship Line offers 24-hour free hotline for older adults, at (415) 752-3778.

Jewish Family and Children's Services of the East Bay
(510) 704-7480, ext. 745
Offers bereavement support groups

Jewish Family and Children's Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties
(415) 449-3879
Offers non-denominational bereavement support groups, workshops, individual and family counseling, and healing and memory services

Jewish Family and Children’s Services of Silicon Valley (Los Gatos)
(408) 357-7425
Provides emergency intervention services to children, adults, and families during times of crisis or transition

Josie's Place (San Francisco)
(415) 513-6343
Offers support groups for children and teens

Kaiser Permanente (South San Francisco)
(650) 742-2439
Offers individual and group support for both Kaiser and non-Kaiser members

KARA – Grief Support for Children and Adults (Palo Alto)
(650) 321-5272
Offers grief support groups for children, teenagers, and adults

Mid-Peninsula Widow and Widowers Association (Los Altos)
(408) 259-4433
A Meetup peer-led social group providing support for widows and widowers

National Grief Support Hotline
(800) 837-1818

National Suicide Hotline
(800) 273-8255

Pathways (Sunnyvale)
(888) 755-7855
Offers grief support group, individual counseling, and workshops in Sunnyvale, South San Francisco, and Oakland

San Francisco Suicide Prevention 24-Hour Crisis Line
(415) 781-0500

Seton Medical Center (Daly City)
(650) 991-6439
Offers bereavement classes and grief support groups

Sutter VNA and Hospice
San Francisco: (415) 600-0467
Alameda and Contra Costa: (510) 450-8596
Concord: (925) 363-4126
San Mateo: adults: (650) 685-2821; youth: (650) 685-2806
Santa Rosa: (707) 535-5780
Offers grief support groups and individual counseling

WillMar Center for Bereaved Children (Sonoma)
(707) 935-1946
Offers grief support for children, teens, and families

Zen Hospice Project (San Francisco)
(415) 863-2910
Offers grief support groups, individual counseling, mindfulness-based grief support groups, and workshops