Kara provides comprehensive grief support, crisis intervention and education to individuals and communities facing the difficult realities of grief and loss. Guided by empathy and compassion, every day we offer caring support to children and adults and provide a space where those in grief find deep relief in the company of others. Through a time-tested and highly effective peer support model (adopted from the Shanti Model of peer support originated by Dr. Charles Garfield), over 150 volunteers serve children and adults on their journey through grief so they can move toward renewed hope and meaning. Our services are designed to be accessible, and we are funded primarily by charitable donations and the heartfelt generosity of the community we serve.

Serving the Bay Area since 1976, our name “Kara” is the gothic root of the word care and was originally inspired from the writings of Henri Nouwen.