BIPOC Peer Support Volunteers – Halton Region

Format: Offered virtually (Zoom)

About us

The Centre for Grief & Healing is currently seeking Black, Indigenous, and racialized/People of Colour volunteers living in Halton Region to provide peer support to BIPOC community members navigating grief and bereavement.

Our peer-support model is rooted in the connection, empathy, and mutual understanding that can emerge through shared lived experience.

Grief can be shaped by culture, race, faith, migration, experiences of racism or exclusion, and cultural beliefs and practices surrounding death and mourning. For BIPOC community members, having the opportunity to receive support from a peer who brings relevant lived experience can help create a culturally responsive, safer space to speak openly about grief and the ways identity may intersect with loss.

For this reason, we are seeking BIPOC volunteers to support our virtual BIPOC Grief Healing Circle Peer Support program for folks living in the Halton region.

We also recognize that shared identity does not mean shared experience. BIPOC communities are diverse, and volunteers are not expected to represent or speak for a particular culture or community. Instead, we ask volunteers to bring their lived experience alongside curiosity, respect, openness, and cultural humility.

We’re looking for volunteers who:

Live in Halton Region
Self-identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or racialized/a Person of Colour
Have personal lived experience with grief and bereavement
Be comfortable using their lived experience thoughtfully to support others
Demonstrate empathy, compassion, non-judgment, and respect for different identities, cultures, beliefs, and experiences
Be open to learning and practicing cultural humility
Be able to maintain appropriate peer-support boundaries and confidentiality
Be willing to complete required training and work collaboratively with Centre staff and other volunteers
How You Can Support 8-Week BIPOC Grief Healing Circle

As a trained peer facilitator, you will co-facilitate an 8-week grief support group for BIPOC community members.

Fall/Winter 2026 Group

Day: Tuesdays
Dates: November 17, 2026 – January 5, 2027
Format: Virtual
Commitment: 8 weekly sessions
Facilitators help create a safe, inclusive, and non-judgmental environment where participants can speak openly about their grief and, when meaningful to them, explore how their identities and social contexts shape their experiences of loss.

Using an established Facilitator Manual, you will:

Facilitate check-ins, group discussions, reflections, and grounding exercises
Listen empathetically and validate participants' experiences
Encourage participants to share at their own pace
Create space for conversations about culture, identity, faith, family, community, migration, discrimination, traditions, and other experiences that may intersect with grief
Work alongside a co-facilitator and participate in a brief debrief following each session
Maintain appropriate peer-support boundaries and seek staff guidance when needed
You Don't Need to Be a Professional

You do not need to be a therapist, counsellor, or mental health professional.

We are looking for people with lived experience, empathy, self-awareness, compassion, and a genuine desire to support others.

The Centre for Grief & Healing provides training, program resources, facilitator materials, and ongoing staff support to help volunteers feel prepared and supported in their role.

All applicants are required to:

Be 18 years of age or older.
Have lived experience with loss and feel emotionally ready to support others through peer support.
Have access to a computer or laptop, reliable internet, and a private, quiet space suitable for facilitating virtual groups.
Provide a current Vulnerable Sector Check before providing peer support.