LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- My deepest condolences, rest in peace. Those are strong words, but hardly enough to comfort someone who’s grieving.
There are now two locations to help people who are dealing with an unexpected loss of a loved one.
Whether it’s a homicide, overdose, or death by suicide, grief can impact all of us. That’s why the First Hour Grief Response opened its doors in east Louisville several years ago.
"I lost my daughter Kristin, Oct. 11, 2020 of a drug overdose,” Vachel Owens said. "She struggled with addiction to prescription drugs.”
"My son, his name is Michael Allen Glynn Sartin," said Dr. Renee Sartin, mother of a homicide victim. "He was murdered on Sept. 15, 2020. During the pandemic."
Dr. Sartin and Owens now have a very painful connection. They are both grieving mothers.
"She was more than just my daughter. She was a friend," Owens said.
And even after nearly three years, the pain can still be crippling.
"I just needed to figure out how to get up every day and do my job," Owens said.
Both Owens and Sartin got help at First Hour Grief Response in east Louisville.
Owens said it gave her an opportunity to talk about Kristen.
"The idea is for you to be able to sit and share how you feel,” said Sartin. “What happened to you during that loss...what transpired."
"We've seen over 600 people from 32 different zip codes,” Lisa Schardein, Executive Director of the First Hour Grief Response, said.
Schardein said although they’ve helped a lot of people at the east end location, there was something missing.
"I really felt that there were a lot of people that we weren't serving in the West End and in Shively," she explained.
In February, an abandoned building in southwest Louisville was transformed into a second site. The new location is located at 3407 Ralph Avenue, just off Cane Run Road.
The goal is to help when the loss is sudden.
"We expect to serve a lot of Black and brown populations,” said Schardein. “In this area we deal with a lot of overdoses and murders."
And in just a few months, the new location has already been in use.
"In fact, before we were officially open in January, we had two teenage boys that needed help,” said Schardein. “Their father had taken his life and they knew right away that they needed some help."
"I don't think I'm ever going to get over it. Never ever, ever. He was my baby," said Sardin.
Meanwhile, both Sartin and Owens are now bridging grief and hope by helping others do the same.
"I had to figure out how to find purpose, how to honor Kristen, how to help other people," said Owens. "It really helps me. Not just focus on me, but helping people believe that it's possible that there really is something else that there really is purpose."
"And the really nice part about it, the warm nice part about it, is we all have something in common. We've all lost a loved one,” said Sartin. “We are not happy about it, but it does bring us together."
To learn more about the organization or contact someone, click here.
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