Grief Support Up North

In 2026, Michael’s Place will celebrate 25 years of showing up for the community

By Ren Brabenec | Dec. 6, 2025

According to a WebMD survey, about 57 percent of Americans experienced a major loss in the last three years, and loss goes hand-in-hand with grief.

Grief is not just an emotion. Health problems associated with grief include depression, anxiety, and heart disease. According to the National Institutes of Health, bereaved individuals are at higher risk of non-fatal myocardial infarction (heart attack), especially in the initial days following a loss.

Perhaps most frustrating of all, for many, grief is not temporary. Losing a parent, spouse, child, sibling, or loved one can leave a permanent mark. Quoting Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, one of the leading intellectuals in the field, “The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not get over the loss of a loved one; you’ll learn to live with it.”

The risk and complications associated with grief and its long-term nature are why grief support is so critical. Founded in 2001, Michael’s Place is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting community members experiencing grief.

Mindy Buell, the nonprofit’s executive director and CEO since day one, met with us to talk about the nonprofit’s origins, its growth over the past quarter century, and how American culture is shifting its perspective on grief.

Michael’s Place: 2001 to the Present

“Michael’s Place began with a logo, a mission, and a card table and chairs from my garage,” Buell says when we ask her to tell us about the organization’s founding. “It was a grassroots effort driven by a bold vision to support those facing loss. We started with three families and six trained volunteer facilitators. Last year, we walked alongside more than 4,800 individuals, 1,000 more than the year before.”

Buell tells us that Michael’s Place was created to provide no-cost grief support and advocacy for children, teens, and adults navigating the death of someone significant. She emphasizes that while the organization is based in Traverse City, Michael’s Place serves eight counties in the area and has expanded its services to families, schools, workplaces, and communities across Michigan and beyond.

“Although our staff is small—just eight people—our impact is multiplied by a remarkable team of over 100 volunteers, many of whom regularly serve our families, offering their time on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.” Buell says. “Last year, we trained 14 new volunteer facilitators.”

Buell read off impressive statistic after impressive statistic. In 2024 alone, the organization’s volunteers provided over 2,700 volunteer hours, responded to four schools and five businesses experiencing losses, and provided grief support to people throughout 19 counties in Michigan. Since 2015, Michael’s Place has provided grief support to people in 37 Michigan counties, nine states, and five countries.

Buell credits the organization’s success not just to the hard work of its staff and volunteers, but also to a culturally shifting perspective on grief.

“In the early days, we knocked on school and business doors, offering our support,” she says. “Now, schools and businesses come to us for crisis response, grief education, in-school/in-business grief support groups, and ongoing support for students, school personnel, and employees. These partnerships have transformed not only individual lives but entire school communities across the region.”

Speaking of schools and businesses, much of the nonprofit’s expansion since 2007 has focused on bringing grief support into schools when a teacher or student passes away, and into businesses when a co-worker dies. In their early years at the nonprofit, Buell and Michael’s Place founder Chris Dennos noticed that schools and businesses typically lack support resources when such a loss occurs.

“Schools have plans in place for intruders, fires, and tornadoes, but not bereavement,” Buell says. “We created a School Grief Crisis Plan and our facilitators go into schools and provide workshops and educational opportunities for faculty to learn how to help students during times of loss.”

Regular Programming

As the organization has grown over the past quarter century, so too has its programming. We asked Buell to describe the primary initiatives she and Dennos are focusing on, and she gave us five:

1. Peer-Facilitated Support Groups: Support groups provide a safe, compassionate space for those coping with the death of a loved one. Guided by trained facilitators, participants share their experiences, support one another, and find comfort in knowing they’re not alone.

2. Peer Navigation: The Navigation Program provides compassionate, short-term support for grieving individuals. Peer navigators listen, build trust, and help identify needs, connecting individuals to additional Michael’s Place services, including support groups and community resources.

3. Robin’s Nest: This monthly, activity-based program offers what Buell calls “Best Day” experiences designed to support grieving children and their families.

4. School-Based Initiative: As touched on earlier, Michael’s Place provides support and guidance to school communities through in-school support groups for elementary, middle, and high school students grieving a death, and through guidance and training to help schools develop Grief Crisis Plans.

5. Compassionate Workplace: Michael’s Place provides support and education to businesses and organizations that have experienced the death of a co-worker.

A Word on Grief

In addition to speaking with Buell, we connected with the woman who founded Michael’s Place all those years ago, Chris Dennos. To this day, she has volunteered her time and energy alongside Buell and their cohort of facilitators and volunteers.

“The motivation to start Michael’s Place is a very personal story,” Dennos tells us. “At the tender age of 14, my cousin, Michael, died. Our large Greek family was devastated and lost. Trying not to upset Michael’s parents, we never talked about him or even mentioned his name, thinking this was the kindest approach.”

Dennos told us about how she silently watched family members suffer with unresolved grief, an experience that led her to believe that there had to be a better way.

“Years later, I was introduced to a grieving center in Lansing, Elle’s Place, and I took their training to become a group facilitator,” Dennos says. “I saw the smiles, comfort, and relief in my group of teens as they talked about death and their own feelings with new friends who felt the same way.”

That was the seed that led to founding a similar nonprofit Up North.

“Michael’s Place is the result of my own experiences living with unresolved grief and helping others in their grief journey,” Dennos concludes.

2026 Programs, Events, and Celebrations

2026 marks the 25th anniversary of Michael’s Place, and we asked Buell for a preview of some of the events her organization has planned. First up is that Michael’s Place is launching a new podcast in 2026, with host Amy Smart and sound engineer Mark Wilson. They’ll also be releasing an updated and redeveloped School Grief Crisis Manual and Training.

On April 24, the nonprofit will celebrate its 25th anniversary at the City Opera House with a spring fundraising event. Later that summer, they’ll have a butterfly release event—a symbol of hope and transformation. The organization’s annual Restoring Hope Fundraising Luncheon will be on September 30.