{"id":111150,"date":"2025-03-24T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-23T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=111150"},"modified":"2025-03-19T23:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T12:19:07","slug":"helping-others-rebuild-their-lives-after-bereavement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/helping-others-rebuild-their-lives-after-bereavement\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping others rebuild their lives after bereavement"},"content":{"rendered":"

AFTER being widowed in 2017, Ballarat woman Carolyn Gower found there were very few support services for widowed people.<\/p>\n

Then, in 2020, she found First Light Widowed Association and attended a three-day event Camp Widow.<\/p>\n

“I found it really helped,” said Ms Gower.<\/p>\n

“It was the first one held in Australia although there had been others in the US and it was good to talk to others who had been through similar experiences.<\/p>\n

“From there I decided to train as a grief counsellor and spoke at a First Light Widowed Association workshop last year.”<\/p>\n

The not-for-profit First Light Widowed Association was founded by young, widowed people, for young, widowed people.<\/p>\n

The association provides information, resources and community connection to young, widowed people, helps them rebuild their lives and find new hope following the death of their partner.<\/p>\n

“This year I was selected as the keynote speaker at the First Light Widowed Association Luncheon held in Melbourne earlier in March,” said Ms Gower.<\/p>\n

“There were approximately 100 people attending.<\/p>\n

“The support luncheon and other events provide an opportunity for young, widowed people to connect with others and get advice on resources.<\/p>\n

“Community plays a big part in helping people who have been widowed. Finding someone who has shared a similar experience, someone you can call or text, go out to lunch or a movie with makes a big difference.<\/p>\n

“Your feelings are validated, and you feel much better.”<\/p>\n

Ms Gower suffered another setback two years ago when she contracted a serious flesh-eating disease and spent one month in a coma.<\/p>\n

“My family was told I might not make it and if I did I might have a brain injury and not be able to talk,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Now after two years of rehabilitation I’m doing well.<\/p>\n

“My family, three adult children and four grandchildren played a big part in getting me through.”<\/p>\n

Ms Gower will be speaking again at a First Light Luncheon in Perth on 1 April.<\/p>\n

“From that First Light will assess if there is interest in the support service and extend the luncheons to other states if they can get sponsorship and funding.<\/p>\n

“It is hard to get donations, but it is a very worthy cause that helps a lot of people.”<\/p>\n

Visit firstlight.org.au<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AFTER being widowed in 2017, Ballarat woman Carolyn Gower found there were very few support services for widowed people. Then, in 2020, she found First Light Widowed Association and attended a three-day event Camp Widow. “I found it really helped,” said Ms Gower. “It was the first one held in Australia although there had been […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":215,"featured_media":111154,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-111150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHelping others rebuild their lives after bereavement - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Find vital widow support Australia. Learn how First Light Widowed Association helps rebuild lives after loss. 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