News from Dougy Center, June 2026

Upcoming Events

Focus on Hope Luncheon, October 27, 2026. Details coming soon

July 20-24, 2026
Find out more here

WEBINARS

Becoming Grief-Informed: Foundations of Grief Education

June 25, 2026

Find out more and register

Grief in the Shadows: Supporting Children & Teens After a Stigmatized Death

Sept 24, 2026

Find out more and register

Big News! Dougy Center West will open in Beaverton early next year

We are thrilled to share some incredibly exciting news about a very special effort that has been happening thoughtfully and behind-the-scenes for the last few years at Dougy Center. The time has come to establish a permanent home for Dougy Center services on the Westside, and we are excited to announce that Dougy Center West in Beaverton will open and begin welcoming children and families as early as January 2027!

Don’t worry, we are not moving out of our beautiful SE Portland headquarters; we are adding a second location. In fact, this new space will allow us to double the number of people served in the first five years after opening, with strategic staffing and scaling plans to ensure our capacity and ability to grow without doubling our budget.

Thanks to the amazing generosity of our community, we have raised the threshold of the minimum costs needed to accomplish this project. With $13 million already secured, we are officially in the home stretch of a very successful capital campaign! We are now able to increase our goal, and it is our hope to secure the final funds needed by the end of this year so that we can open strong in early 2027.

In early March, we celebrated the launch of construction with our friends at The Marquis Foundation to honor Dr. Malcolm Marquis, whose generous bequest allowed us to purchase the building in Beaverton. In his memory, the new center will be named “Dougy Center West: Malcolm’s House.” And with that, this new intentionally designed, permanent home for Dougy Center on the Westside is officially underway. See the renderings here!

Stay tuned for more updates this summer; we invite you to get involved in a way that is meaningful to you, and we will have more opportunities to share very soon. We’re so excited to bring this long-held dream to life…and cross the finish line WITH YOU! Ready to jump in now? Contact Lani Faith, Chief Advancement Officer, she’d love to connect. You can also learn more here.

We will leave you with some inspiring words from Tyler Hobbs, Executive Director of the Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation, whose recent grant to the campaign helped catapult us to this final stage: “This campaign is essential. Dougy Center West will double the number of people served, reduce waitlists, expand access, and reinforce a regional safety net that has no substitute. Supporting this project ensures that young people do not face the hardest moment of their lives without the support they deserve.”

Summertime and grief

Summer can be a season of mixed emotions for many families who are grieving. The end of school and after-school activities can be a relief for some, especially if they struggled with classes and homework. Others will miss the structure and social time that school and sports provide. For adults, summer might mean a less demanding schedule, but could also add the stress of finding childcare or having enough financial resources for camps and trips.

For support on grief during the summer months, download this tip sheet, and watch Dougy Center’s Facebook and Instagram pages for other summer tips and activities.

Announcing Dougy Center's Newest Online Grief Education Course, "Grief as a Mental Disorder: A Critical Assessment"

Grief is a natural human experience, however, there is a growing trend to pathologize grief and describe certain grief responses as "abnormal."

Dougy Center's newest online grief education course, Grief as a Mental Disorder: A Critical Assessment, is designed for people who want to understand the historical evolution of how society views grief and the key factors that have influenced the diagnostic model, which sometimes conceptualizes grief as a mental disorder.

This course aims to provide learners with a critical perspective on these issues, empowering you to better understand the controversy and to support people who are grieving.

This self-paced course can be accessed anytime (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) and completed in your own timeframe. Fine more information on this course, as well as many others offered by Dougy Center here.

Join us for the International Summer Institute

There are just a few spots left

Are you interested in supporting children and teens through peer grief support groups? Dougy Center's International Summer Institute is your opportunity to learn the basics about The Dougy Center Model™, the world-renowned peer grief support model for children, teens, and their families.

Join us in Portland, Oregon from July 20 to 24, alongside dynamic colleagues from across the United States and beyond who plan to implement The Dougy Center Model™ in their community. Spots are limited. Find details and register here.

Grief is hard. Your monthly gift helps.

Your monthly gifts ensure Dougy Center's critical resources remain free and available to the families we serve. For as little as $10 a month, you can cover the cost of grief support services for a child and their family for 30 days. For $125 a month, you can cover their costs for an entire year — the length of time most families receive support from Dougy Center. Find more about Dougy Center's Smooth Stone Circle here.

Make a Donation

dougy.org · help@dougy.org · 503.775.5683