Threads of Life "Family Forums" - Karen Lapierre Pitts

The Threads of Life Family Forums bring families affected by a workplace tragedy together to share, network and, ultimately, heal. At this special event, spouses, parents, siblings and close friends gather to learn coping skills for grief, active listening skills, tips on how the OHS system works, self-care, and so much more.  Karen shares her personal connection to workplace tragedy as well as her experience with the Family Forums since 2005.

Transcript

 0:19
 Welcome to today's podcast. My name is Pearlie Brewer, and I will be your host. Today's podcast guest is Karen Lapierre Pitts, who is responsible for organizing the Threads of Life family forms. Welcome, Karen. Thank you for agreeing to be with us today.

 0:34
 Thanks, Pearlie. I'm happy to be here. Aaron. Let's start with for folks who haven't heard of the Threads of Life organization. And who are they and what do they do?

 0:46
 Threads of Life is also known as the Association for Workplace Tragedy Family Support. We are a Canadian charity dedicated to supporting families who are living with the outcome of a workplace fatality, a life altering injury or an occupational disease

 1:03
 and our mission is to help families heal through community support and to promote the elimination of life altering workplace

 1:11
 tragedies.

 1:13
 So how did the Threads of Life family forms get started and what is the purpose of that event?

 1:22
 So we have a we have a bit of a history. Threads of Life was incorporated in 2003. Last year we

 1:33
 met our our 20th anniversary. The organization was originally started by Shirley Hickman, who is our Executive Director and a few other family members who have sorry, a few family members who who connected with Shirley and they created this organization out of Ontario.

 1:58
 As time grew on the need for families to have a place where they could share their experience, to lean on each other at that group, and so out of some of the programs, the family forms were created.

 2:14
 So how many family forms? I know you have one here in Atlantic Canada. How many would you have across Canada?

 2:21
 So we have three annual family forms by region. So if you live in Western Canada, there is a family form there. In Central Canada there's also another family farm. And then in the east, for the Atlantic provinces, there's a third family farm.

 2:39
 So how does one get invited to attend one of these family forms?

 2:45
 Um, well, we really rely on word of mouth. Anyone can reach out to us directly,

 2:53
 and sometimes it's looking for information on support, like after a tragedy has happened, friends and family share that information. We have lots of supporters, so folks that work in the health and safety field or that work with families and in different ways that that have connections and communications with them and they'll share our information and those families can reach out to us.

 3:17
 So walk us through what a typical family form would be like, for example, one that you had last year in Atlantic Canada in in May and June. Marcus Sue, what was on the agenda and, and what was your thought that went into developing that agenda?

 3:36
 So the family farm is held over three days. Families will arrive on a Friday afternoon and then around dinner time we meet and there's a reflection ceremony. So it's bringing everybody together on that first evening as a group to honor a loss to, you know, talk about the reasons why they're there. And that's called a reflection ceremony. It can be quite emotional, but I think it sets the tone for the rest of the weekend.

 4:08
 And then on Saturday and Sunday, there's options for those families to register & up for different types of workshops. And those workshops are around topics that would be helpful to that family. So whether they're living with an injury or an occupational disease or

 4:27
 navigating grief and loss, there's different topics that they can go in and take with other families. And, and they they learn about and reflect on what their journey is and maybe some, and find some coping tools, I would say to move forward.

 4:45
 So tell us a little more about the reflection ceremony.

 4:49
 Hmm. So the reflection ceremony, we do honor each and every family That's that registers and it is going to attend for the weekend. We have a slide show

 5:03
 photo of that person will come up on the screen, will call their name and the family will come up and light a candle. And we talk about, you know, the experience of why we're there together honoring, you know, those pieces and what families can do for the weekend to help themselves and to also share with others their experience. Because we find bringing families together as peers is really helpful piece, making them feel like they're not alone,

 5:34
 we're helping them feel like they're not alone, I think is the key, the key piece. How many folks would have participated in the Family Forum in Halifax?

 5:45
 We typically have with staff and the families that attend around 100.

 5:52
 So we around 100 folks will will be able to come to one of these events. We try to keep it relatively small, so there are some connections that are made and it's not such a big feeling, you know, of what to expect,

 6:10
 but it's enough that I think they get to, um,

 6:15
 get to know each other better.

 6:18
 What do you hear from the participants

 6:21
 as to what they take away from these forms?

 6:26
 Well, I, I think going into a form or registering to attend a form at the first time, there's a, a bit of anxiety, not certain of what to expect. And so we can always have conversations with, with families to know if it's the right type of event that they're, they're wishing to attend.

 6:46
 Um, and with that, I find over the weekend, you gradually see families,

 6:53
 you know, turn, turn a page. So because they've met some others, they don't feel so isolated. We hear them say they've come away from the family form with new ways to cope, a new outlook, new friends. They feel a little bit more rejuvenated and and that the support is there for them in a non judgmental way, not not non judgmental way.

 7:19
 Some of the comments that I've received this year and I had a few that I wanted to share with you that came from one family is everyone's grief is personal and it's just as important as others. Do not be afraid to share because everyone in the room will understand and not judge.

 7:38
 Very nice. Nice and and another family that attended a couple of years shared that it's our safe haven. It's a place to cry, to share, to heal and to grow. The bonds we make are strong and unite us in our purpose.

 7:56
 Very, very nice. Now, how many people would come back here after year?

 8:03
 It it depends. So our, our programs, I would, I would describe them as fluid. So families can journey with us for many years.

 8:14
 We have different programs as well. So depending on interest and what's helpful to a family, they can become involved in other programs. We have some webinars that are held monthly as well. So ways for families just to, you know, look at some of those topics and be together. But there really is no timeline on how long a family stays with us. We, we, they can they can apply to come to a family form year after year if that's necessary.

 8:45
 I noticed in your material that you sent me a age of 14 and up,

 8:50
 yes. Is what you are open to yes. Yeah. You keep many in the, in the sort of the 14 to 20 age group or is that mostly adults as far as

 9:02
 you know, sort of parents and and so on?

 9:06
 Um, so we got families that come to the family forms and they may have younger children and that can be a, a challenge for them to arrange childcare and things like that. But we find if, if somebody is emotionally ready to attend an event like this and they're open to some of the topics, it's really up to that family whether or not they want to bring young adults. We do have quite a few young adults

 9:36
 that attend with their family. They participate in different sessions that we have. We have, you know, some sessions that are lighter in content, so art therapy or music therapy, something along those lines that they may be more comfortable

 9:55
 participating in. But it's really up to the family

 10:00
 and, and for each family that does register, we can, we can have up to four member, 4 family members attend within, within their registration. So umm,

 10:14
 it just really all depends on how they feel now. How long have you been doing these yourself?

 10:22
 Oh well, I have a longer history with threats of life as well. I, I have worked for the organization for about 5 years, six years now. And but I've been involved as a volunteer for many years since

 10:38
 I think probably 2005. So I've had a long history of being at these events, facilitating workshops for folks that are there and volunteering in different ways. So, So what led you to volunteer with the organization?

 10:55
 Uh, well, uh, my journey started way back in

 11:01
 the year 2000. My family was affected by workplace tragedy. My brother Jamie died at work in a confined space incident

 11:12
 and I connected with Shirley Hickman back in the days before Threats of Life was an organization and we stayed connected and over the years my volunteering was heartwork. I want it to be able to help other families so that they don't go through what we I went through, what my family went through and that they had a support network around them. So what I learned I could share with other people.

 11:42
 So is it been a good healing

 11:45
 process for you as well?

 11:47
 Yeah, I I consider this my hard work. I enjoy working with the families that I get to know over the years.

 11:57
 I

 11:59
 are able to give back so much to others in and outside of their own tragedy that it's, it's really a special place to to work. And I feel it's, it's really important work that we do and, and I wouldn't want to be in any other role.

 12:21
 So you've done these now for a few years

 12:24
 would have been your big takeaways and what what do you think you maybe need to do in the future to sort of help grow your program,

 12:33
 right. So I think some of the biggest takeaways for

 12:39
 for me is that

 12:42
 is that people, because the journey

 12:46
 with a workplace tragedy can mean many things to a family, really letting them know and, and having a sense that we are not alone, that there are people that care about workplace health and safety, that they want to make a difference and that they can lean on others for support. And knowing that other families can understand what they're going through is somewhat comforting.

 13:13
 Umm

 13:14
 and for our organization, it's a great way for us to grow our program. So a lot of our family members will become volunteers as I did, and help support others. We have ways that they can do that. They can become volunteer family guys so they can offer some one-on-one peer support to another family who might be just starting a journey or to have just been impacted by a workplace tragedy. And they can promote safer workplaces by doing that.

 13:46
 Um, but really in essence, providing a space where folks can meet and share in a peer group is often the greatest value.

 13:56
 So for anyone listening today that would like to attend your form who has an interest in finding out more about it, how can they arrange this?

 14:07
 Well, they can go to our website. There's a programs tab on our website where they can look at everything that's offered. They can find the regional family forms page. There are, they can reach out to me directly or any of our staff

 14:25
 and to learn more. And we are offering information webinars about once a month. Those are introduction webinars that give families a navigation piece. So they learn a little bit about who we are, what we do. In case they're not really certain and they don't know what they're signing up for, they can register for one of those and just, you know, come jump on the webinar and hear a little bit more about each program that we do offer. And then they can take some time to consider if that's right

 14:55
 for them or they can register for any of our programs. And I would like to add that all of our programs are free. So to anyone who's experiencing this type of tragedy related to work, they can. There is no cost. There's no cost to attend a family forum, no cost to have a volunteer family guide for one-on-one support, and no cost for our webinars, which are called Families Connect that run about once a month on different topics.

 15:25
 So just to, to finish off, I wanna just to have you repeat who these sessions are open to as far as sort of who's eligible to, to attend. For example, your family forms, right. So anyone who is impacted by a workplace tragedy, which includes fatalities or deaths related to work, those families that are living with the outcome of a life altering injury and

 15:55
 and also occupational disease. And, and so

 16:01
 this would be open to parents, to children over the age of 14

 16:09
 and siblings, any close relatives and sometimes even friends or companions can can come with a family member for emotional support. But I encourage anyone that has questions around that just to reach out. We really try to, you know, have space and hold space for all those families that are dealing with difficult situations.

 16:34
 We've had, we've had the opportunity over the last year to talk to Bill and Shirley about Threads of Life and, and we've had the chance to interview a number of folks who have participated and are continuing to participate in, in your speakers Bureau as well as your family forms. They all say tremendously good things about what you're doing and how your folks can relate to to them personally because they've in some way been affected by a workplace

 17:05
 accident and they think what you're doing is fantastic. So by all means, keep doing it. Keep sharing your resources. And for anyone out there listening, very easy to get a hold of Threads of Life. You can simply Google Threads of Life and they have a great website. They have a lot of tremendous resources. And we certainly encourage anyone who would like some support to reach out. Thank you very much, Karen for joining us on today's podcast.

 17:33
 We we appreciate you taking the time to be with us. Stay safe. See you next week.