I am proud to serve as the newly installed board president and chair of the board of directors of
OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center. Our executive leadership team welcomes Breena Gold as
the incoming CEO.
As we reflect upon the overwhelming needs of the Los Angeles community at this time, the
organization’s mission to support bereaved children, teens, and adults in grieving the death of
someone close is more important than ever. As a griever myself, I know our society shies away
from talking about death or acknowledging the emotional pain of grief and loss. Many simply do
not feel equipped to know what to say to someone experiencing the raw anguish of grief.
People end up saying nothing at all to the griever and that’s a lonely place to be. This isolating
feeling sends the message ‘you should be okay by now’ or ‘move on’ – even if unintended.
Having listened to so many OUR HOUSE alumni over the years, I am continually impressed by
how the grief groups at OUR HOUSE have helped so many put words to their emotions by
making the unspeakable pain – speakable.
The programs and services of OUR HOUSE have truly made a life-altering difference for so
many grievers. With resources from our community fueling our excellent staff and the aid of
volunteers and board, the Center’s new executive leadership team will continue to promote grief
awareness and expansion of support services in keeping with our collective belief that no one
should grieve alone.
OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center
While loss is an all-too-common part of the human experience, we do not know how to cope
with grief as a society. OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center aims to change that with direct grief
support and a myriad of educational programs.
OUR HOUSE is a non-profit, non-sectarian grief support agency that operates on a sliding
scale. Over the past three decades, OUR HOUSE has helped tens of thousands of grieving
individuals of all ages from 4 – 104 years old begin their journey to healing after the death of a
loved one. Located in Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, Koreatown, and “online” via Zoom, OUR
HOUSE offers a safe, nurturing environment where bereaved families can find hope through the
peer support of curated grief groups.
In 2020 during the Pandemic, OUR HOUSE provided 23,135 hours of online support for
grievers and educated and trained 7,761 professionals including therapists, clergy, and hospice
workers who interact with bereaved families. The agency also offered a virtual grief camp for
kids, Spanish-speaking support groups, on-site grief response for companies and their
employees and a medical education program for first year med students. Please visit OUR
HOUSE to learn more about the services offered and how you can support our mission.
New CEO Announced: Breena Gold
Our board of directors is thrilled to introduce a leader of Breena’s caliber to guide OUR HOUSE
Grief Support Center. Breena possesses proven executive leadership credentials to grow and
sustain the longevity of OUR HOUSE and turn it into an even greater, more impactful, and
broad reaching organization. As we look to the future, Breena will lead and carry on our legacy
of providing the highest level of program excellence and service to those in our community who
are grieving the death of a loved one.
2021/2022 Board Chair: Robyn Santucci
As a founding member of the Associate Board in 2008, I am deeply honored to continue my
work with this invaluable organization that is near and dear to my heart. I served as chair of the
Associate Board, a group of young professionals which supports the agency through fundraising
and ambassadorship, from 2010-2014. I joined the Board of Directors in January 2015. Over the
years, I have been afforded an insider’s view of the phenomenal work that OUR HOUSE has
done to help so many during a critical time of need.
Yet, the agency faces many challenges in the wake of the pandemic when the community need
for grief support has exponentially increased. As the incoming Board Chair, I look forward to
working closely with my staff partner, CEO Breena Gold, to safely reopen our in-person services
in the coming months. While family law is my specialty, the call of my heart has always been to
help others. I am honored to use my experience to help others as a committed volunteer at
OUR HOUSE.
If you want to get involved, there are three meaningful ways to volunteer: become a volunteer
group leader, volunteer at Camp Erin, or serve on one of our special events committees. We
cannot bring understanding, respect, and hope to the grief process without the partnership of our volunteers!