Welcome! I am both grateful and heartbroken you are here. I am glad to let you know you’re not alone, but I am so sorry you have to be here at all.

I started Elf Army of Light because in my journey of grief, most of the support organizations I found would use religious verbiage like “you may be asking yourself why God let this happen” or “you may be questioning your faith, but you’ll find it again”. Yet I was neither waiting on nor blaming any supernatural entity. I was going through stress, anxiety, depression and angry at or grateful for the PEOPLE in my life and their words and actions or inactions. 

I am very much in the camp of personal responsibility. Each and every one of us are responsible and accountable for our own actions and words and behaviors. If you haven’t been through a loss, it’s preferable to admit you don’t know what to say than to unintentionally say something hurtful. The friends that helped the most were the ones not that offered thoughts and prayers, but let me know they were there and that they loved me while delivering me food, treats, and bath supplies. 

Through the memorials, walks, and speakers the need was born for a place that spoke to me and the people like me, including those who are religious, but found the religious comments feel like a slap in the face. We needed to know we weren’t alone, and that we were supported too. After searching and finding research foundations but not a support structure that met my needs, I decided to start one. 

If you’re here, it means you seek the same. Here you will find resources, poems, books, a guide for your support system of what to say and what not to say, the ability to connect with people who know what you’re going through and while we can’t make this journey easier, we can at least walk it together. We are each part of an army of light for each other.