The Roots of Community Care

Grief and loss is universal. One locally-grown initiative developed out of the idea that support should be universal too. Unacknowledged grief and loss, or "disenfranchised grief" is carried by many people in our communities, and lies at the root of social issues such as addictions, houselessness, and isolation. Soloss recognizes that professional care is sometimes inaccessible or doesn’t work for everyone, and aims to nourish a culture where everyday humans have the capacity to journey with each other through grief. Soloss offers non-clinical grief and loss support, rooted in creativity, ritual, and human connection.

On February 23, Soloss hosted a Learning Day, where folks from Georges House, Health, City employees, and community gathered to share experiences and reflect on the lessons that were learned from this innovative prototype.

Over 6 years, Soloss ran through six cohorts - five in Edmonton and one in Vancouver. Originally emerging out of the 24/7 Crisis Diversion connector role, community-based ethnographic research with the community revealed that people said they needed opportunities for connection, belonging, respect and community, often ranking this need higher than their need for housing.

Out of this knowledge, Soloss was created as a way to provide community care for grief and loss, offering peer-to-peer support and co-creating personal and neighbourhood healing rituals.

Soloss cohorts bring in everyday people called “Losstenders” to build authentic relationships with others, across lines of difference. Cohorts have taken place with people living in permanent supportive housing, frontline workers dealing with grief from Covid, drug poisonings, and personal losses to see if this kind of care complemented Employee Assistance Programs. “From there, it moved into encampments, where beautiful, lasting relationships were created by giving people an opportunity to give care,” says Hayley Sallis, the Lead for Soloss.

The project then entered a partnership with George’s House, a palliative care home for individuals who have experienced homelessness with terminal diagnoses.

Soloss is built on five big ideas:

1. Grief and loss is a shared part of the human experience

2. Non-institutional, freely given care is powerful

3. We are a network not a hierarchical organization

4. We are a forever prototype, always trying new things

5. To foster healing and well being, we believe individual and cultural change is necessary

At George’s House, these ideas were applied in a space that brought the healing power of real relationships within the structures of a healthcare institution. It has much to teach everyone who participated, both professionally and personally, about what it means to care in ways that are reciprocal and rooted in shared humanity rather than charity or one-sided helping.

“I had this idea that I was a caregiver but in reality every time I stepped into George’s House I was given care,” said one Losstender. “It was so fulfilling and challenging. Step out, be uncomfortable and do what’s hard, that’s what Soloss is great at.”

Bringing everyday people and artists from the community into a space with nurses and protocols created challenges, but brought a new sense of human-to-human connection to the space.

“Sometimes we think in order to be a professional we can’t be a friend,” said one woman who works as a nurse at the home. “But at George’s House you can be both. Institutions can be risk averse… and sometimes shut down possibilities. How can we work through a messy situation in a good way rather than crushing it with too many rules?”

This dedication to human-first principles shone through especially when Soloss remained committed to the idea that everyone has something to give, no matter where they're at in life.

One Losstender was unhoused and dedicated to serving his community.

“He was so committed to being a support, even while sleeping outside,” said Hayley. At the start, he was not interested in engaging with the systems that might lead to finding supportive housing, but he was dedicated to giving back. While acting as a Losstender, he built relationships with other Losstenders, clients, and the staff. He was a dedicated friend and support to Mark, a client staying at George’s House.  Through these relationships, he eventually came around to the idea of supportive housing.

“He’s now housed and all that happened while he was losstending,” says Hayley. “This is the ripple effect of informed care. Proximity and connection matter. All his care was informal. Nobody was paid to help him.”

This example of radical inclusion went against the grain of who is normally viewed as a client and who is viewed as a helper, reaping remarkable results.

“Inclusion: we hear that word a lot, but I’ve never seen it in action anywhere like at Soloss,” said another Losstender. “They included all. We are all free to try all roles and responsibilities.”

Losstenders and clients at George’s House worked together to help people move through their end-of-life journey with their agency and dignity intact. One client said he wanted to be buried in a handmade coffin. This request was taken seriously and put into action, as Losstenders (community members, local artisans) all worked together to make this handmade coffin that was requested.

“They still have goals and dreams,” said Hayley. “Even at the end of life, people still have a future.” 

While Soloss was funded by the city's RECOVER Urban Wellbeing Initiative, as well as a grant from ATB and other granting bodies, with REACH acting as the fiscal agent, funding for the project ran out in 2025, so no new cohorts are currently running at this time.

In summer and fall of 2026, Soloss and End Poverty Edmonton will prototype a fresh approach to growing trust and collaboration across lines of difference. “First, Dinner” will build relationships over a series of meals, and will use creative and somatic means to surface and acknowledge the ways in which our current economic systems produce loss and grief in people's lives, and orient the group towards acts of collective care and community wealth that affirm our shared humanity and desire for greater solidarity. 

Soloss is currently offering Grief Garage workshops as an alternative way to share its learnings, practices, and values with a broader audience including individuals, communities and organizations who want to better learn how to tend grief and loss in their own lives, communities or organizations.

The work of Soloss remains relevant and ready to partner with the community if funding is secured. The project information, processes, protocols and training curriculum will be held with the Network and InWithForward.

For more information about Soloss, or to inquire about how to host a cohort or grief garage, click here