A five-week grief support group series will begin June 7 in Sequim and a six-week grief support group series will start June 8 in Port Angeles.

The five-week series will be from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays at Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 S. Blake Ave., in Sequim.

The six-week series will be from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays in the Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County (VHOCC) conference room, 829 E. Eighth St., Port Angeles.

Sponsored by VHOCC, the Sequim group is facilitated by Debby Smith, who had a 35-year career as a registered nurse and has been a hospice volunteer for 25 years.

She has led grief support groups, breast cancer patient care and psychiatric medicine. Program organizers say that her goal is to provide a safe atmosphere for open dialogue about the death and grief process and lessen the fear and anxiety associated with loss.

The Port Angeles group will be facilitated by Donna Geer, who has a professional coaching certification, is the advisor to veteran students at Peninsula College and owns Shore Pine Productions. Her experiences with death and dying have helped her appreciate the importance of providing a safe place to talk about the death of a loved one, organizers said.

Though there is no charge, space is limited in both groups and participants must pre-register with the VHOCC office by calling 360-452-1511. Both groups are likely to fill quickly, organizers said.

Another Sequim-area group will be offered mid-August.

Since 1978, VHOCC has been providing free hospice services to patients and their families in Clallam County from Diamond Point to Joyce. Part of VHOCC’s mission is to offer grief support groups, not only to families of hospice patients, but to anyone in the community who has experienced the death of a loved one.

For more information, visit VHOCC.org or facebook.com/Volunteerhospiceofclallamcounty or call 360-452-1511.