Belles Love Though Loss, a grief support group, offers students at Saint Mary’s College a safe space to share and support each other through a loss of a loved one.
Carrie Badertscher, who serves as a campus minister at the College and facilitates the support group, shared that Belles Love Through Loss was started in the early months of 2022 by herself and the Saint Mary’s vice president for mission, Molly Gower, alongside a group of students.
“Students played a vital role in shaping the group and nurturing it into what it is today,” Badertscher said.
The group is facilitated by Badertscher. However, she said, “it is truly led by the students themselves. Each person is invited to share their story and feelings in their own way and time.”
Josie Baggs, a junior, shared that she helped to start the group when she got to campus as a freshman. She noted that the group helps her feel connected with other students and seen on campus.
Baggs discussed how the group aims to create an environment that welcomes dialogue about what can sometimes be a taboo topic. She also noted that the group is open to anyone, regardless of how grief is impacting them.
“It doesn’t matter your loss, if it affects you, you're welcome into the group,” Baggs said, noting that group members might not necessarily have had a loved one die, but rather might have anticipatory grief or have someone in their life who’s not there anymore.
Badertscher elaborated on the group’s role in the Saint Mary’s community, sharing that Belles Love Through Loss is “a place where no one has to explain their pain or sadness. While the world may rush forward for others, time feels different for those who carry deep loss. This group offers a sacred pause, a space where sorrow is named, honored and shared among those who understand it firsthand.”
“Here, each person is invited to recognize their loss, speak it aloud and gently learn what it means to carry it as part of their journey. This is profound, meaningful work,” she added, noting the “deeply tender and supportive” nature of the students in the group.
She described the group’s nature as sharing an “unspoken language of understanding, a quiet bond that needs no explanation,” adding, “It is moving to see students speak life into one another, walking side by side with care and compassion.”
Badertscher elaborated on the impact the group has had in her own life, saying, “I am forever changed by being part of [Belles Love Through Loss] these past three years. The students are so dear to me, and it is truly an honor to walk alongside them and learn from them.”
She continued, “I will never take for granted the way they have welcomed me into the most vulnerable and fragile parts of their journeys.”
The group acknowledges that grief changes over time. “We recognize that grief is not something to be fixed, so our time together is not about solutions. Instead, we listen deeply, hold space for one another and offer gentle care and encouragement along the way,” Badertscher said.
