News from Dougy Center, January 2025

Celebrating 10 years of Grief Out Loud!

January 2025 marks 10 years of Dougy Center's podcast, Grief Out Loud! Grief Out Loud is consistently ranked in the top 5% of most followed and most shared podcasts, and was recently named one of 17 best mental health podcasts by Vogue.

The spark for starting Grief Out Loud was an office doorway conversation between Jana DeCristofaro, our Community Response Program Coordinator, and a Dougy Center colleague about how a podcast could be an accessible way for people around the world to feel less alone in their grief.

Since that quick conversation in late 2014, Grief Out Loud now has more than 300 episodes and over a million downloads world-wide. But what can't be measured is the deep and meaningful impact Grief Out Loud has had on listeners and guests as they navigate their own individual and personal grief experiences.

Here's what past guests are saying to commemorate 10 years of Grief Out Loud:

“Grief Out Loud is not just a must-listen podcast — it’s a wildly useful compendium of all the ways we might get through the hardest things that happen to us. It is a gift and I hope it keeps going forever.”

— Laurel Braitman, PhD, New York Times bestselling author, Director of Writing and Storytelling at Stanford University, and founder of Writing Medicine, Episode 253

“Being a guest on Grief Out Loud was unlike any other interview I've done. Our conversation had been so unscripted — so raw and real — that I was sure I'd made absolutely no sense and I was embarrassed by what I had (over)shared. But when I listened to the episode, I didn't feel that way at all. Instead, I heard an authentic voice open up to Jana about complicated experiences with grief in an unpolished way.”

— Maegan Parker Brooks, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair, Civic Communication & Media; and Organizer, Diversity of Loss, Willamette's Art-Based Grief Support Group, Episode 300

Find more about Grief Out Loud's impact

Find a complete catalog of Grief Out Loud episodes

We are truly grateful to the hundreds of guests and millions of listeners who have made Grief Out Loud an important part of their lives. And a sincere thank you to Jana DeCristofaro, host and producer, for her labor of love on this project for the past ten years.

Continuing education credits now available for several Dougy Center trainings

Deepen your understanding and practical skills for supporting children, teens, and adults who are grieving and earn continuing education credits. Dougy Center is now offering CEUs for the Virtual Professional Seminar and Grief Education Webinars.

Through the Virtual Professional Seminar, January 27-31, 2025, you can earn 7.25 Clinical and 1 Cultural Continuing Education Credit through the Oregon Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

You can also earn 1.5 Clinical CEUs for Dougy Center's first three Grief Education Webinars of 2025 through the Oregon Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Please add CEUs when registering.

More information is coming soon as Dougy Center expands its CEU offerings in the future. Find more on all of Dougy Center's grief education opportunities here.

Volunteer Loretta Cukale wins “yeʔlan lima” Award from the Spirit Mountain Community Fund

Longtime Dougy Center volunteer, Loretta Cukale, was recently presented the “yeʔlan lima” Award (a Chinuk Wawa phrase meaning “helping hand”) by the Spirit Mountain Community Fund. Loretta received the award during a surprise presentation with Angela Sears and Angela Schlappie of the Spirit Mountain Community Fund, along with Dougy Center volunteers and staff.

The Spirit Mountain Community Fund selected Loretta for this award in part because of her dedication to serving Dougy Center and the thousands of families she has worked with as a volunteer for more than 37 years. Thank you and congratulations Loretta! We are so grateful for all that you do to support Dougy Center.

It's here! Tickets are on sale for the 28th Annual Porsche Boxster Raffle

Someone will win a brand new 2025 Porsche Boxster valued at $74,900 — why not you?

Support programs to help kids and teens who are grieving through Dougy Center's 27th Annual Porsche Boxster Raffle.

Tickets are just $100 each and only 2,500 tickets will be sold. All proceeds will help fund peer support groups and resources for grieving families. The winning ticket will be drawn on May 9, 2025.

In addition, ticket holders have the opportunity to win three $500 drawings. Drawings for the $500 cash prizes will be held on February 7, 2025, March 7, 2025, and April 11, 2025.

Find out more and purchase tickets here. Thank you to our sponsor, Porsche Beaverton.

Good luck and thank you for supporting Dougy Center!

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