A Map with support group locations can be placed here also
A Map with support group locations can be placed here also
About Us
Grief Support El Paso was initially formed to respond to the need in the El Paso Community for support and resources for grieving persons who have suffered loss, whether it be the death of a loved one or pet, a divorce, deployment. separation of from family or any other life transition.
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From the beginning there was a commitment to include people of all beliefs and from all walks of life. Some of our support services include a broad faith component, others do not.
GSEP is a 501(c)3 nonprofit and completely volunteer organization guided by the Leadership Team who is a group of committed, caring, and encouraging people. Each has experienced deep grief in their own lives and has moved to provide a supportive community for others during their grief journey.
Each team member draws on diverse backgrounds ranging from:
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board-certified hospice chaplaincy
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licensed family therapy
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psychological, pastoral and addiction counseling
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certified grief counseling
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experience with the military
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These skills along with their own experiences places them in a unique position to offer the resources and support needed by those experiencing loss and grief.
Grief support meetings
Monthly one-hour gathering for those grieving a loss.
A speaker shares their story. Afterward there is group conversation with a facilitator.
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Annual Memorial Gathering
A time set aside to honor loved ones and recognize everyone's losses.
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Educational Events
Education and facilitation to community groups in:
Loss & Grief
Grief Crisis Intervention
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Information Clearinghouse
Provide general resources and information regarding local & national organizations
What We
Offer
Our
History
In 2015 a local pastor was grieving the death of her son, losing her husband to diabetes-related dementia and accompanying her daughter in her fight against the cancer that would end her life 3 years later. She was looking for comfort, connection and spiritual support that honored her beliefs.
Representatives from several churches met together to see how to respond to her and a host of others in the El Paso area looking for grief support. Grief Support El Paso (GSEP) was formed and then affiliated with Faith & Grief Ministries, Inc. based in Dallas TX.
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From the beginning, GSEP has envisioned offering support to people from all walks of life and with all kinds of loss. For the last four years, GSEP has offered a monthly grief support group to people experiencing the loss of loved ones. Last year, services were expanded to offer support to people with many different kinds of losses. Additionally, GSEP continues to offer grief education and facilitation to community organizations.
Our Team
Rev. Katherine Norvell
M.Div. Austin Theological Seminary
Licensed Marriage & Therapy Therapist
Pastoral Counselor
Certified Grief Counseling Specialist, IATP
Katherine spent most of her early years in El Paso then left to attend college and later, seminary and returned to her “home in the desert” twenty years ago. She has been an ordained minister for over 35 years and currently serves a local church. After working in the field of business for several years, she has since served churches, managed a transitional living center for homeless women and children and was a hospice chaplain for six years. She is a founding member of Grief Support El Paso and currently serves as the head of its Leadership Team.
Rev. Carlos J. Clugy-Soto
M.Div. Columbia Seminary
Board Certified Chaplain, APBCC
Certified Grief Counseling Specialist, IATP
Carlos was born in Puerto Rico and raised in the US. He is a bilingual, retired ordained minister with ten years’ experience in secular occupations and over thirty-five years in ministry in the US, Africa and Latin America. Currently he serves as full time hospice chaplain. Recently he served on the boards of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and Project Vida Health Center. He is treasurer for GSEP and is a founding member. Carlos' wife is also an ordained minister. They have three children, two who they adopted in Venezuela, and two grandchildren.
Karen Sutton
Graduate of University of Texas
of El Paso
Karen is a life long El Pasoan. She is recently retired from working 30 years at Providence Hospital in the purchasing, billing and chart audit departments. Since 2017 she has served as secretary of the leadership team. She is an active church member and serves on the board of Project Vida whose mission is to develop and implement community-based structures and programs in response to the needs of impoverished communities..
Pete McMillan
Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor
Certified Grief Counseling Specialist, IATP
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Pete retired after working in the treatment field in El Paso for more than 30 years and have been part of the GSEP team since 2017. His wife and he have four grown children and five grandchildren. Pete is an active and long-time church member and also facilitates recovery meetings in El Paso. His hobbies include studying and collecting early southwestern art and trout fishing.
Dr. Jane Nicholson
PhD. Kent State University
Clinical Psychologist
Jane was born and grew up on a farm in Iowa. For many years she lived and worked in Richmond, Virginia. She then moved to El Paso to work at Ft. Bliss in William Beaumont Army Medical Center, and is now retired. She belongs to and serves in many ways at the church she attends.