Fall Harvest at Bellis
Hello, Bellis Community!
It has been a couple of months since we last checked in and we continue to plant, nurture, and grow the seeds of our work. As always, we are eager to share our harvest with you all!
We have completed our Facilitator Training Manual! This will allow us to train other licensed professionals according to the Bellis Stronger Together Peer Support Model™ so they may implement this programming within their own organizations, primarily correctional, recovery, and re-entry facilities. Our first training will be in January 2026 with Little House Recovery Home in Bellflower, CA. This is an ENORMOUS leap for us in terms of being able to bring Bellis grief support to more people in more parts of the country. Please check our webpage to read more about what this training has to offer.
Bellis has teamed up with VitalWay Digital public relations and marketing firm to help bring awareness of our manual, and our work in general, to a larger audience. So many organizations that have contact with individuals that would benefit from Bellis aren’t aware of us. Bringing recognition to this work isn’t easy – it is a highly stigmatized population, no other organization in the country provides this type of grief support, and with only three full time employees it is a challenge to wear all of the hats necessary to market ourselves in a way that will attract the attention of individuals and organizations alike. We are proud of the fact that we have more than doubled our individual outreach in a little over a year with more than 700 women signed up to receive our weekly emails with access to our six online groups. Still, there are tens of thousands more that could be supported by this work if implemented across the country in a variety of organizations. We are so excited to be closer to making this a reality!
The 12th Annual Weekend Retreat was a huge success, with the women emphatically claiming, “it was the best one yet!” Although we did not have the numbers we initially anticipated, having a smaller group worked for everyone’s benefit. The participants said they felt more comfortable sharing their stories with the group and felt a closer bond to one another. As facilitators, there was less direction from us and more opportunity for peer support, allowing for the women to find their strengths within themselves and each other and use that as a guide for when they depart from the weekend. We are looking at the possibility of doing two smaller weekend retreats throughout the year, instead of one larger one, and moving the venue closer to the Twin Cities, making it more accessible to the increasing number of out-of-state participants.
Our end-of-year campaign is right around the corner, and we have some incredible stories of resilience from our participants. We are eager to share these with you in the next month, and we hope that you will see them as a steadfast reminder of the difference your financial support makes in the lives of the women that come to Bellis. We are thrilled to be able to run six online weekly groups, one in-person monthly group, our day and weekend retreats, and our warmline – all free of cost to our participants and all because of YOU.
If you would like to contribute early to our end-of-year giving, we enthusiastically accept both online contributions and checks sent to our current mailing address:
Bellis
2038 Ford Parkway, PMB 457
St. Paul, MN 55116
We are always so excited to be able to share updates with our community and are so very grateful for your acknowledgment and support. Thank you for being amazing!
Written by Kelly Tronstad
M.Ed. and Licensed Parent Educator
Bellis Executive Director
