RUTLAND — Organizers of the third annual Hope Lives Here 5K run/walk expect more than 200 people to participate in the Oct. 15 event, which is again being held at Glenwood Elementary School.
“We are very lucky to have some incredible support from the community and our corporate sponsors,” said Hope Lives Here Board of Directors member Sheri Roaf, who helps run the event. “Every year Dr. Cappucci opens the doors at Glenwood Elementary for us and the Rutland PD makes sure that we have a safe route to walk.
“Last year, more than $33,000 was raised through the run/walk,” Roaf said. “That vital funding is used to pay bills and staff and support the outreach programs, client wellness events, and volunteer training for the nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping people struggling with loss and heal their hearts and build hope.
“The most important thing about the day is being able to honor our grief community,” she added. “This event is about holding space for our clients and their loss. We share pictures, stories, and memories and remember why we are walking and running.”
Roaf walked into her first Hope Lives Here meeting in April 2018, nearly five years after losing her 18-month-old blonde-haired, blue-eyed cherubic son Bennett, and just a week or so after her family moved to town with their other children: Darcy, now 14, Fletcher, now 8, and Perry, now 6. Someone had shared a social media video post of Patty Inwood introducing the first meeting of the organization she started after losing her son Luke to suicide, so Roaf decided to go.
“I needed a way to live with my grief after losing my son. What I found was my grief family,” Roaf said. “For the first time in a long time I felt seen, and all of my feelings and thoughts and craziness felt validated. I wasn’t alone.”
She began volunteering with the organization and found purpose amidst her pain. Besides being on the board of directors, Roaf also facilitates the Loss of a Child Meeting and helps out on the committees that organize the 5K and other programming.
“This has been a huge step towards my healing,” she said.
Roaf is joined by friends and family who walk with her team named in honor of her late son, Benny’s Bunch. So far, HLH has well over 120 people registered for the Oct. 15 occasion, and they welcome people to show up the day of — registration begins at 9 a.m. and the Run to Remember starts at 10.
“Most of the folks who sign up have been to one of our meetings or are supporting someone who has been to a meeting,” Roaf said. “Our clients pull together teams to honor their loved ones. That is what the day is all about.”
Roaf shared that they “are lucky to have some of the most generous sponsors that support us year after year” and that local real estate agent Tracey Fiorelli “stepped up as the Presenting Sponsor since we started the walk in 2021.”
She went on to say that they “are always working hard at HLH to expand our programs” and carry on the legacy of their founder, Patty Inwood, whom Roaf said “envisioned Hope Lives Here as a place for adult peer-to-peer grief support.”
“After the death of her son Luke, (Patty) had a lot of people surrounding her and helping her out. She wanted to make sure that no one grieves alone,” Roaf said.
Getting youth involved is one of the organization’s future goals, and they have plans to do so already in place.
“Right now, we have a team pulling together a peer-to-peer grief program for teens,” Roaf said. “We recognize how underserved the juvenile community is when it comes to grief support, and are hoping to roll this out in 2024. My daughter Darcy Roaf started ‘Hope Lives Here at Wachusett’ this year as a way for the high schoolers to support our outreach events and give back to the grief community.”
For now, Roaf said they are looking forward to gathering for the Run to Remember and are grateful for the continued support from the community for this “beautiful way to remember our loved ones and share them with each other.”
“It provides a unique opportunity for our grievers to come together and support one another, and this event would not be possible without the support of our community year after year,” she said. “We are so thankful to each and every single person who has donated so generously of their time, their goods, and have opened up their wallets to continue to support our incredible dream: That no one should grieve alone.”
For more information and to register, visit hlhgrief.org and follow Hope Lives Here on Facebook (facebook.com/hopeliveshere) and Instagram (instagram.com/hopeliveshere_/?hl=en).
