Clear Mourning is a 501c3 organization dedicated to shifting the culture of grief. Using innovation, support, and raising awareness Clear Mourning supports grievers and their supporters through scholarships for grief-care (massage, co-pays, lingering bills, and more), Clear Mourning yoga, online and regular grief workshops, social awareness campaigns, and custom community grief experiences.

In 2016, we lost our amazing and beloved daughter, Marley, when a drunk driver struck our family car. Three months later, my grief grew, when my 62-year-old father died of a broken heart.

As a person in mourning, experienced hospice social worker, and change agent, I have experienced America’s broken culture around those who are mourning. Families with whom I work echoed the same sadness and frustration.

One cold day in the month of January immediately following our tremendous losses of my two-year-old daughter, and my dad, I tried to get dressed.

I wanted to start my day and be a mother to our son. What I found instead is no clothing in the world felt appropriate.

All of my choices felt like a pathetic costume. I decided I needed a symbol. An external way of acknowledging my pain and broken heart, a notice to my community and loved ones, and a way for me to feel legitimate in my costume.

This is how Clear Mourning was born.

To promote positive social change and provide grief support for those who have experienced traumatic loss, Clear Mourning created a symbol to be worn; a way to fill the void in our culture where mourning dress was deserted.

Women no longer wear veils and black or men armbands to self-identify as a person in mourning. Our grief apparel allows those grieving to express themselves, feel validated in their grief, and be offered a softer spot within their community.

The symbol for Clear Mourning, a broken heart, will be as culturally visible and identifiable as a pink ribbon or yellow band bracelet.

Clear Mourning will use proceeds from Marketplace sales to provide financial assistance for services to those who suffer from traumatic loss.

Survivors of traumatic loss are often left to their own devices as there are few “safety nets” in our society to support the time it takes to grieve, fill family roles that have been abandoned suddenly, and deal with unanticipated financial strains left behind. My family and I have felt these barriers and strive to support survivors in other, holistic, ways of grieving. Clear Mourning will use proceeds to pay co-pays, mental and physical health support, child care, massage, and acupuncture.

Clear Mourning cannot speed up the healing process or fix the grief. Clear Mourning is designed to allow survivors the freedom to grieve – this is the cultural shift.