Overcoming Grief, a community conversation about dealing with grief

INDIANAPOLIS — Armoni’s death is one of several tragedies that have rocked Indianapolis families in the past few weeks.

“Over the course of about 10 to 12 days, five to six kids were involved in gun violence incidents,” said Rae Karim, a grief coach and founder of Good Grief Now.

Karim said that about two weeks ago, the school principal called her because three children under the age of 5 had been victims of gun violence.

“My Facebook timeline alone was filled with people expressing their sadness,” Karim said.

Rae knew she had to do something in her profession because she had to help others heal.

“It exists. There is no one who has not experienced grief at some point in their life. I just want to offer a safe space to talk about it, to release it, to share, to pool resources and just be in community,” Karim said.

Karim took to social media to describe Monday’s conversation about supporting the bereaved.

“A friend of mine shared a flyer on Instagram. I said, ‘Maybe.’ So I sent it to her and she said, ‘Yes,'” Robyn Dixon said.

A simple post that got Robyn and her daughter Symfhani talking.

“I have a degree in psychology and I was struggling with a lot of issues, and I thought, ‘I can solve all of these problems myself. I have all the tools now.’ But it’s not really going in that direction,” Dixon said.

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Robyn and her daughter have experienced a tragedy and want to take action to cope with it.

“It was one of my nieces’ wedding anniversary in July, and her birthday is tomorrow. So it was the perfect time for us to get involved, and it’s important to me to show my daughter how we handle things the right way and go through this journey together,” Dixon said.

“After that, I really procrastinated and tried to keep myself busy, but then I realized I wasn’t the type of person who wanted to be in school all day and feel like I had to do homework. I was the one pushing away a feeling that I actually needed to fulfill,” Symfhani Dixon said.

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In a room full of therapists and trainers.

“Live life to the fullest, mourn freely, and rejoice often,” Karim said.

To equip Robyn and Symfhani with the tools to see better days ahead.

“I’m glad we get to make these decisions and that she knows how important they are. I’m sad that we even have to be on this journey. I’m so excited that we get to do this together and figure this out,” Robyn said.

Rae said she would like to see the Safe Here event happen monthly so the community can get the support they need to grieve and live healthier lives.