News and Events
July Newsletter: Fathers

Dougy Center Fire
We are sad to report that The Dougy Center main building on southeast 52nd burned down on the night of Sunday June 21st.
click here for details and how you can help..

The 32nd Annual Compassionate Friends Conference
August 7 - 9, 2009 at the DoubleTree Lloyd Center, Portland
featuring A Walk to Remember on Sunday, August 9 at 8 am.
Pat Schwiebert RN will be speaking at three sessions: Making Tear Soup, Infant Loss Panel, and How to Parent a Dead Baby While Making Decisions About the Future.
There are nearly 100 workshop sessions for parents, grandparents, and siblings. Volunteer with BE to help at the conference and BE will pay $25 of your registration. If you would like to volunteer a few hours prior to or during the conference, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator Carolyn Harrington at (503) 307-8450 or linerharrington@yahoo.com. The early registration deadline is Friday, June 26 ($75 early, $100 after 6/26). Siblings are $30 early, $50 after 6/26. To register, or for more information, visit compassionatefriends.org. You do not have to sign up for the conference to register for the walk. Go to compassionatefriends.org to sign up for the walk only.

Peer Companion Support Group in Sherwood
The Oregon Chapter of the TEARS Foundation (thetearsfoundation.org) hosts a Peer Companion Support Group on the last Sunday of each month from 3 pm - 5 pm. It is held at the Sherwood YMCA Conference Room, Sherwood, OR. Shawna Lapp, a TEARS Certified Trained Peer Companion Facilitator hosts the monthly meetings. She is also a bereaved parent; she lost her daughter, Anna, on June 13, 2001, at 40 weeks gestation. Scrapbooking is a wonderful way to heal. Nobody needs to see what you are doing. You do not have to talk unless you want to, but you will be surrounded by others who know your pain. Start with a picture, create a background or write a poem and create a scrapbook in your child's honor. All materials are supplied by TEARS. This is a free event. Please call Shawna at (503) 320-0252 to sign up.

Grant for materials provided by The Nora Madelyn Fund for Infant and Child Loss (noramadelyn.org). Meeting room provided by Sherwood YMCA. 
About Us

Brief Encounters is a nonprofit, nonsectarian group for parents whose babies have died before, during, or after birth. Brief Encounters provides meetings in the greater Portland, Oregon area and local phone support. At informal, mutually supportive meetings, bereaved parents and their families share their stories, discuss issues that arise around pregnancy and infant loss, and remember their children. Through talking or just listening, we learn what grief is and how, through understanding and caring, we heal.


Need to talk?

Call (503) 699-8006 or the Spanish line at (503) 419-6299. Please recognize that this is a message phone only. Our volunteers will attempt to return your phone call within 24 hours. Our volunteer will help you access the resources you need. This Web Site is available to parents around the world. We may not be able to return calls outside of the greater Portland, Oregon area, although other resources, including newsletters, are available to you.