Transitions to Adult Care, and Self Advocacy

Anticipatory Grief

April 7 | 6:30 – 8 p.m.

Families at Canuck Place share the challenge of living with uncertainty about their child’s health. This uncertainty can evoke grief and loss tied to the future or what might have been, a process identified as anticipatory grief. Anticipatory grief is the emotional, cognitive, physical, and spiritual responses to loss before it occurs, and can begin as early as diagnosis.

In this presentation, Serrah Dhesi will explore what anticipatory grief is, how it manifests, and strategies families can use to support themselves.

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Music Mondays (Virtual)

Weekly on Mondays | 10–10:45 a.m.

Every Monday, children from across our Canuck Place community come together online for Music Mondays—a space to share favourite songs, discover new ones, and connect with peers through the joy of music. Over the past year, the group has grown in both numbers and spirit, with more children joining each week to sing, laugh, and support one another.

We’re excited to continue building this energy in the year ahead and can’t wait to hear the songs you’ll bring to Music Mondays!

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Spring Recital

May 28 | 4 p.m.

This spring, we are celebrating the music created by children and their families at Canuck Place with our Virtual Spring Recital!

Interested families can book a session with our music therapists throughout the year, in person, or virtually, to help create a song or video for the showcase. If your child/family has an admission planned, please let us know that you want to be a part of the recital and our music therapists can help you create your unique video during your stay.

Let your imagination soar, share your story through music, and be part of something truly special. This event is open to all Canuck Place families!

Please email Michaela and Ingrid for more information at [email protected]

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We Are a Grieving, Surviving Family

To say, “we are a grieving, surviving family” is to express the impact of this profound loss and the underlying question “how will we survive this?” together and individually.

We recognize that bereaved parents carry the unimaginable weight of grief, and that the future they imagined suddenly looks very different. Siblings may express grief through words, behaviour, play, or silence. Grandparents often carry their own sorrow while worrying deeply about their family.

We see the strength of support that comes from other bereaved families who are also grieving and surviving, offering each other connection, understanding, and ways they are navigating grief. Canuck Place gatherings, workshops, and support groups offer spaces to ask things like “how do I honour her birthday?” or “how do I support my son?”

A space for families to remember together, cry, and even laugh together. Canuck Place aims to be a space where no one grieves alone because this is the support most recommended for those grieving the death of a child.

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Are you a family member or caregiver with a child on program at Canuck Place, seeking support and connection?

Our Patient & Family Engagement Advisors, Sara and Dana would like to extend an invite to our Monthly Family Connection Zoom Drop-In Sessions. These  drop-in sessions will provide a safe space where families can come together to support each other, share stories, and find comfort in knowing they are not  alone. This space will not provide medical advice nor is this a counselling session, rather a place for Canuck Place families come together, connect, and  provide peer support.

Why peer support?

To walk beside patients and their families throughout their Canuck Place journey. Peer support sessions do not help direct anyone’s path—but rather provide opportunities for listening, validating experiences, and sharing parts of our own journeys as a group. During these sessions, peers can share coping strategies,
information and resources, offer non-judgmental support.

If you are interested in receiving more information or joining our next upcoming Family Connection Zoom Drop-In Session, please email our Family  Engagement Advisors, Sara and Dana at: [email protected].

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Parents at Canuck Place embody strength, courage, and resilience. Kerena Letcher is one of these parents.

When her son Heston was diagnosed as a toddler with Sanfilippo syndrome—a rare, terminal metabolic disorder— Kerena faced the devastating news with determination. As a mother of five, she knows what it takes to push through obstacles and live one day at a time.

“Being Heston’s mom is a privilege,” Kerena shares. “It’s a daily reminder of what truly matters. Before Heston, life felt black and white—now it’s in colour. Hardship and the anticipation of grief have deepened my perspective.”

Parenting has no handbook, and for Kerena, caring for Heston often felt like a role she was unqualified for. His needs and abilities constantly changed, requiring ongoing adjustments to ensure the best quality of life. Amid this uncertainty, Canuck Place was a lifeline. The 24-Hour Clinical Care Line and virtual counselling connected the Letchers with professionals who understood Heston’s complex needs.

Medical respite at Canuck Place offered the family a rare break from round-the-clock care. Travel was nearly impossible, so respite stays felt like their only “holiday.” During these visits, Heston received expert pain and symptom management while the family enjoyed healthy meals, sibling activities, and time to recharge.

The Letchers relied on Canuck Place to gently guide them through challenging conversations about Heston’s advance care needs and end-of-life planning. “It was like preparing for battle,” Kerena explains.“ Canuck Place equipped us, caught us when we fell, and helped us find strength to live even The Letchers went back to the Vancouver hospice for pain and symptom management and support while Heston was nearing the end of life. Canuck Place supported their decisions and helped them spend their final days together as a family. Three years after Heston died, Canuck Place is still there for the Letchers, offering grief and bereavement support individually and through group counselling sessions with other Canuck Place families. “We often say we don’t know what we’d do without Canuck Place,” Kerena shares. “I can’t imagine how much harder life would be without their support.”

Each holiday season, 10-year-old Canuck Place child Emmett Willms holds his annual fundraiser to support Canuck Place.

He, along with Grandpa Frank Ewald, work together on a special secret art project. Last year, they designed a Christmas Tree plaque, in 2023 a Christmas decorated pot, in 2022 a wooden snowman, 2021 a Christmas Eve countdown calendar and 2020 a “hand and foot” painting of Santa’s sleigh.

Emmett is a supportive, caring, helpful and encouraging young man who loves to have fun! Especially when that fun involves chasing his younger brother Theodore around the playground at Dave Lede House when they, along with parents Josh and Alisha, stay for respite. That is the reason he wants to give back, to help families like his own.

Once the art project is complete, they meet to discuss which of their donors, known affectionately as The Orange Hippos, should receive the piece. There is no raffle, simply a discussion and a decision. Everyone who donates has the same chance to be gifted with the project!

Emmett began fundraising at just three years old! That is when he first took part in a Cure SMA team 5KM roll, walk, and run event and the name Orange Hippos (his favourite colour and favourite animal) was born.

Raising over $30,000 (and growing) for Canuck Place in six years with each year’s fundraiser growing bigger than the last!

We’re so grateful to you, Emmett! And Grandpa Frank, too!