The Sharing Place was founded in 1993 by a young widow, Chris Chytraus, and her children’s therapist, Nancy Reiser. The need for children’s grief support groups was recognized in the late 1980’s. The Dougy Center located in Portland, Oregon was one of the first in the country. Chris and Nancy decided it was important to start something similar in Salt Lake City, Utah.In the beginning a small group of preschool children met in Nancy’s office. Eventually they moved to a church building where a preschool was in place. As the energy and need grew a marvelous space was purchased, 1695 East 3300 South, Salt Lake City, Utah.
This beautiful old house now hosts fifteen grief support groups for children, teens and young adults. Simultaneously, there are groups for parents and caregivers to attend. Each group has a coordinator and a number of volunteers, who are the heart and soul of our program.
As the program has grown over the years, the requests for education and outreach in the community has grown as well. We partner with other agencies and schools across the Wasatch Front to increase the awareness of the grief journey and the impact the death of a loved one can have at different ages and stages of an individual’s life.Currently, The Sharing Place is holding grief groups off site. We are extending our services in target areas to reach more families that will benefit from the opportunity to share their feelings, experiences and memories.
