Support Group Facilitator: Queer Family Building

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Join us in creating a compassionate and supportive community for those navigating the complexities of pregnancy loss, infant loss, infertility, and adoption journeys.

LAND HONOURING
We acknowledge that we live, work, and parent within Kanata (Canada). We recognize the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit people of Canada, the impacts of colonization, and the lives, ceremonies, languages, and teachings lost. We work in the spirit of healing and reconciliation to honor those we have lost, those with us, and those yet to come. We are grateful for the traditional Knowledge Keepers and Elders who are still with us today and those who have gone before us. We make this acknowledgment as an act of reconciliation and gratitude to those whose territory we reside on or are visiting.

OVERVIEW OF PREGNANCY & INFANT LOSS SUPPORT CENTRE
The Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support Centre is a registered charity based in Calgary, Alberta serving the loss community worldwide.

Our mission is to support and connect individuals of all identities, backgrounds or circumstances, who have experienced the trauma around miscarriage, stillbirth, termination for medical reasons (TFMR), neonatal loss, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), or infertility.

We acknowledge that the journey through loss towards healing is as complex as it is individual. As such, we offer no-cost pathways to healing including a helpline, peer support, and professional coaching/counselling.

For more information, please visit our website at https://pilsc.org/.

ROLE DETAILS
Volunteer group facilitators lead PILSC groups online, in-person, and/or as a hybrid of online and in-person. Volunteers also represent PILSC at community activities and events.

PILSC’s peer support groups are led by people who have personal, lived experienced of the groups they facilitate. Groups are free to attend, affirming, trauma-informed, and designed for people to participate in ways that resonate the most for them.

Our Queer Family Building support group is a casual peer support group that provides an accountable, non-judgmental space for those who identify within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. This group holds space for the diverse ways that 2SLGBTQIA+ parents build their families (i.e.: assisted fertility, surrogacy, chosen family, adoption) and/or experience loss on their paths to parenthood. We recognize that all parents deserve an accountable and affirming space to navigate their journey.

The monthly peer support group is co-facilitated by people with lived experience and offered in a casual manner.

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Believe in and honour PILSC’s mission, vision, and values
• Adhere to PILSC’s policies, procedures, and practices
• Create an intentional and inclusive space for group members
• Engage group members weekly online
• Ensure replacement facilitator when needed
• Facilitate a peer support group
• Manage group members, time, and topics
• Organize the structure and timeline of the group
• Promote and market groups online and in the community
• Promote connection through conversation and activity
• Provide feedback and integrate feedback given

EXPERIENCE/SKILLS/QUALIFICATIONS:

• Access to a personal device and a secure internet connection (required)
• Identify within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community (required)
• Personal experience with pregnancy loss, infant loss, adoption, fertility (required)
• Communicate fluently in English
• Confidence in engaging in activated conversations
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Give, receive, and implement feedback
• Problem-solving skills
• Naturally empathetic and compassionate
• Comfortable supporting individuals from all cultures and backgrounds
• Non-Judgmental

PILSC strives to train volunteer facilitators to feel informed, supported, and grounded in this work so that they are able to hold space for the deep work of supporting grief and loss within the peer-support model of group work.

COMMITMENT:

• One-year commitment
• Monthly volunteer meetings/check-ins (2 hours, evening)
• Group sessions (2 hours, evening, weekly or monthly)
• Yearly check-in and performance review