weaving loss into life
Our Philosophy
We honor sorrow
Grief is a normal part of living. Grief comes with all loss — including but not limited to death. New strengths arise when we weave loss into our ongoing lives.
We value community
Gathering together can give us courage in the presence of grief. We can support each other in our grief even when the sources of our loss are different.
We champion diversity
Grief can show up as a multitude of emotions — including joy, hope and comfort — sometimes separate from one another, sometimes simultaneously. There is no one way to grieve and no set timeline for how grief unfolds.
We trust nature
Humans are part of — not separate from — nature. We can learn from the cycles of loss and birth constantly unfolding in wild environments.
We embrace integration
We process grief with our whole selves — body, mind and spirit. Bringing body mind and spirit together deepens the integration of loss into our lives.
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Our Mission and Work
The Grief House creates and supports community-led offerings that foster the metabolism of grief from all kinds of loss.
We do this by cultivating, curating, and collaborating on gatherings and experiences at the Grief House and aligned project spaces throughout the community. We work to hold physical and virtual space for grief to be expressed, shared and witnessed without judgment, and to re-integrate our experience of grief through a variety of somatic practices.
About You
You Belong At The Grief House If
Someone you love died • Someone you love left • Someone you love didn’t show up • Love showed up, but it’s not what you hoped it would be • Love showed up and it was what you hoped it would be, but then it changed • You lost your job • Your best friend moved • Your dog is old • Love showed up as a dog, then love showed up as a human who is allergic to your dog • Love showed up as running (or dancing or skiing or hiking or sleeping in a tent or doing needlepoint or carrying babies), but your body isn’t up for it • Your body doesn’t understand the world it lives in • The world misunderstands your body •Your body hates a thing you love • Your body loves a thing you hate • Your mother hates a thing you love • You love too many things and think you have to choose
You want to practice being many things at once
You want to practice being integrated
You like gardening
We welcome you and your grief with no plan for what you should grow into.
At the Grief House our interest is in learning how to thoughtfully tend whatever comes up.
Grief House Founders & Board
Artistic Director and Co-Founder
Laura Green is a massage therapist, Grief House Tender, friend and partner, daughter, sister, niece and many times a cousin. She feels many things, knows very little, is good at asking questions and better and better at not having answers. She also serves as Board Vice President.
You can listen to her talk for many hours on the podcast she makes with Sascha and hardly at all if you meet her in person at an unstructured social gathering. She is deeply introverted, but really quite friendly.
Executive Director and Co-Founder
Sascha Demerjian is a cofounder of the Grief House and Executive Director. The road she took to get here took her through a MSW from the University of Michigan, a PhD in Sociology from Emory University, several moves across the country, parenthood, pet parenthood, and so many deep connections and losses.
At the Grief House she develops, supports and facilitates opportunities for people to be present with grief. She works to normalize grief and to invite and allow for messiness and joy along the way. She is in Atlanta and runs the Atlanta Grief House. Click here to book a 1:1 with Sascha.
Tina Tau
Board Member
Minister of Magic
Dan Barton
Board Member
Treasurer
Taking part in launching The Grief House in 2019 provided a meaningful focus for my wife and me after losing our son, Christopher. We were drawn to the idea of creating spaces for individuals to “use the energy of loss to deepen [their] experience of life.” Today, we celebrate what The Grief House is, what it does, and how it continues to evolve.
I’m a parent, a husband, a retired architect, a son, a cousin, a volunteer, an uncle, and a friend. I thrive on building meaningful relationships, being creative, and experiencing natural beauty. Supporting The Grief House as its treasurer gives me the consistent opportunity to interact with our exceptional board members. Their collective spirit, caring, and energy continually inspires and comforts me.
Krystle May Statler
Board Member
Krystle May Statler (she/her) is a Black-multiracial woman, interdisciplinary poet, artist, and designer, and the author of the poetry collection Prayer for Relief.
She's been a Board Member of The Grief House since December 2022 and is a Grief House Collaborator that facilitates virtual Sibling Storytelling Sessions. She believes writing is a sacred practice of community care that nourishes pathways to belonging, bearing witness, and our inherent humanity.
More of her creative adventures can be seen at krystlemaystatler.com.
Alex Wilson
Board Member
Community Outreach
& Communications Chair
Alex (she/her) is the founder of Healing the Land Wellness - wellness practice that centers healing justice, grief support and nature based healing. Alex has called Portland, Oregon home for almost 3 years. Alex believes healing and wellbeing should be accessible for all.
Currently, Alex works as an associate therapist at the Imani Center. Outside of her full time role she facilitates breathwork and movement as a pathway towards mind, body and earth connection and is an end of life death doula and educator.
Melanie Storrusten
Board Member
Secretary
Melanie Storrusten, LCSW is the owner of Align Wellness - a holistic, integrative therapy practice. Her work is currently focused in a few domains:
- Crafting community ritual offerings that bring the healing of earth-honoring traditions and spiritual practices.
- Blending the principles and philosophies of those sacred healing practices into her direct one-on-one work with clients.
- Providing training, supervision, and support to clinicians who feel called to escape exploitative work environments and decolonize their practice.
You can find her at:
Patricia Montoya
Board Member
Originally from Colombia, Patricia has experienced profound personal losses that became the foundation of her life's work. She is a certified Death Doula, grief practitioner, and energy healer, and a first-year MSW student specializing in clinical trauma. Through her practice, Titipoza, she supports people in moving through grief, healing inherited trauma, and finding a new normal after loss.
She lives in Portland with her husband, toddler, and dog Midnight.