First Hour Grief Response, Inc.

First Hour Grief Response, Inc. was founded to help people navigate the unexpected passing of a loved one. We help by providing a variety of services including one-on-one grief coaching, grief support groups, monthly workshops for youth, and in-school grief support program for elementary through high schools students in addition to training for First Responders. We have two locations in Louisville: 3407 Ralph Avenue and 409 Marquette Drive.

Our funding need is to help support overall operations to help provide a safe and welcoming place for people to come for grief support. We offer FREE monthly workshops for grieving youth. We provide art and trauma therapy and grief coaches for each meeting. Our monthly workshops for Adults only cost $10 per person. We are helping people navigate losses due to gun violence, addiction, suicide and more. They have lost children, parents, siblings, friends and other family members and need a safe and healthy place to learn coping strategies for the days ahead. We want to raise funds to keep our programs going as many of our clients pay a sliding scale or are unable to pay. Please help us continue to offer much-needed grief services to East and West Louisville!

Who We Are

Our mission is to provide compassionate guidance for people who have suffered the sudden loss of a loved one. Our vision is that grief is understood by everyone and grievers learn coping skills for life moving forward.

Louisville has a significant need for grief support services. According to US Census data, 30,000 Jefferson County residents are widowed (79% female; 21% male). We know from Kentucky Health Facts data that each year at least 235 families in Jefferson County experience the death of a child. Jefferson County’s Coroner’s Office reported a 30% increase in suicides from 2014 to 2016 (from 121 to 156). The Louisville Metro Health Equity Report 2017 reported an average of 271 drug and alcohol related deaths per year from 2011-2015. From the tragedies mentioned above, hundreds of surviving family members in our community are left grieving.

Since 2018 we have served over 1,000 clients from 57 zip codes. Each mentoring session lasts approximately 90 minutes and most people return 8-10 times before they were transferred to one of our many free grief support groups.

This year, we anticipate serving over 200 hurting people suffering unexpected loss. In order to do this, we must continue to provide a welcoming and confidential environment in our houses in Lyndon and off Ralph Avenue. Our homicide rate is among the highest in the country and we are providing easy and affordable access to peer to peer mental health care.

How we work: We like to get involved in the "first hours" following the death of a loved one. That can happen immediately following the loss so we can help with funeral or life celebration planning. And sometimes we are needed a few weeks later when family and friends go back to their normal lives and you are left to process your grief alone.
1) We pair you up with a grief mentor, who has a similar death experience, and they will be your "lifeline" during your grief journey. 
2) Each visit is 60- 90 minutes and your first visit is FREE. During that time we determine what your needs are and a treatment plan to provide continued support and coping strategies for the days ahead. Subsequent visits cost $50 per session. However, we do not turn anyone away and have some scholarship funding to help offset the cost of therapy.

Please give to support First Hour and the space we provide to help grieving people, in addition to scholarship funding to provide care for those who cannot afford our low fees.