Bereaved Families of Ontario —
OttawaBoard of Directors
BFO is governed by a Board of Directors and receives the guidance of professional consultants and an Advisory Committee of Health Care Professionals.
BFO is currently looking for new Board Members
Bereaved Families of Ontario-Ottawa Region has openings for Board members. If you have an interest in offering support to the bereaved in the community and wish to practice your good organizational skills or are interested in how a charity is run, please contact us.
The Board meets the third Tuesday of each month at the Bronson Centre, located at 211 Bronson Avenue, Suite 308, Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 6H5 at 6:30 pm. If you are interested in volunteering on the Board, please submit your resume to Hilda Sabadash at office@bfo-ottawa.org.
Currently, we are looking for individuals with a fundraising / events planning background. The fundraiser is responsible for proposal development and / or organizing fundraising events such us our Annual Golf Tournament, Walk to Remember, and Remembrance Tree.
The Board of Directors, in alphabetical order:
Maria Boodoo
I have been a Board member since 2006. I first benefited from the support of Bereaved Families in Ottawa after the death of my husband in 2001. Then I attended Support and Share Nights regularly. I received the most help from the closed group. I also found a community of caring people and met many friends. I wanted to give something back. I took the facilitator training offered by Bereaved Families. Now I am a facilitator for Loss of Spouse closed groups, facilitate the Wednesday Support and Share Day program, and Support and Share Night spousal groups. I enjoy the groups as it is an extension to my previous work as a Social Worker.
Jim Elliott
After I lost my wife of 37 years to cancer in 1998, I received some much-needed help from Bereaved Families. I subsequently trained as a facilitator, worked with several closed groups and many support and share nights before becoming a director.
Mary Hearn Hendela
As the new Chair of the Board of Directors, I'd like to introduce myself and share some of my reasons for being involved with this organization. I am a Registered Nurse with a BA and an MBA with over 30 years of experience in various positions in Health Care and in the voluntary/not-for-profit sectors as well as working as a consultant. I have held Board leadership positions in a number of organizations at the local, provincial and national levels. In recent years I have lost a number of close loved ones as well as having some health issues which have now been resolved. These experiences gave me time to stop, think and look at where I could use my knowledge and skills to make a difference in the community . This brought me to becoming a board member of Bereaved Families of Ontario-Ottawa Region (BFO-OR).
Christie May
Maureen
Deborah Krogan
Program Co-ordinator
I am responsible for the planning, organization and implementation of all the programs offered to the community including our ongoing monthly Support & Share Night program, our weekly Support & Share Day program as well as our various Closed Group programs offered every fall and spring.
My first introduction to BFO was in the spring of 1993 when I tragically lost my father to suicide. How fortunate my family and I were to have learned of this organization. With its support through the programs it offered and the kind and compassionate ear of its volunteer facilitators, we survived. The value of learning about grief as well as the experience of receiving peer support carried us through subsequent loss. Since 2003, I have been volunteering as a grief facilitator and after further involvement in various fundraising events I found myself drawn to the position of Program Coordinator.
I can be reached at the office from 9:30-4:30pm every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 613-567-4278.
Hilda Sabadash
Honourary Board Member.