Widowed Persons Association of California, Inc.

We're here to help

The Widowed Persons Association of California is a non profit, nondenominational community service organization dedicated to helping widowed people overcome grief and learn to live and laugh again.

All the people who work for our organization are widows and widowers. Volunteers have made WPAC a strong, vibrant organization. We know what it means to lose a spouse and how long and how hard the road seems to a new and independent life.

We're here. . . to listen, to lend a hand, to let you talk or cry or rage. We know the grieving process well because each of us has lived through it, too. The motto of the Widowed Persons Association of California is "A grief shared is a grief diminished" because we have discovered that widowed people need, more than anything else, the companionship and understanding of those who have also loved and lost----and lived to become strong and vital people.

RECOVERY AND SUPPORT PROGRAM

Recovery and support programs are offered to the community at no charge or request for donation. The program has proven to be very successful in aiding widowed persons through their valley of grief. It also serves as an oppportunity for other widowed persons to aid and guide the recently bereaved through their grief and offer a road to recovery.

SUNDAY SUPPORT: Every Sunday there is a meeting at our office from 3 - 5 PM. We ask participants to arrive early to minimize disruptions caused by arrivals after we get started. This is a non-specific support group where participants can freely discuss what is going on in their lives as they become accustomed to living on their own again. Participants do not need to be WPAC members.

RECOVERY WORKSHOPS: There are four workshops during the year, two in the evening and two in the afternoon. These are structured with subject matter relevant to recovering from the loss of a spouse. The duration is six weeks with a social event, i.e., potluck, pizza party or dinner to wind up each session. Participants do not need to be WPAC members.

COPING WITH THE HOLIDAYS: We offer two sessions in the fall, one in the evening and one in the afternoon, relating to the difficulty widowed persons encounter during the holidays.

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

Widowed Persons Association Chapter 1 offers a full and varied range of activites for the members. There are daytrips and card games such as bridge, pinochle, and hand and foot, bowling, golf, breakfasts and dinners through out the month.

We also have special events through out the year with dinner and entertainment; i.e., St. Patrick's Day, a Luau, Halloween, and our special New Year's celebration.

The best part of our organization is certainly the new friends one makes: friends who will call when you're lonely, drop by if you are blue, laugh with you, cry with you, lift your spirits and enrich your life.

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

Membership in our organization is open to all widowed persons. Prospective members are welcome as guest at three WPAC chapter functions while deciding whether or not to join the organization. Sunday Support and Grief Recovery Workshops are not part of the three functions limit, but open to any grieving person.

Each of our chapter sets its own membership dues. Dues are payable each year on January 1st and include both local and state charges. (New members joining after July 1st may pay half-year dues of $30.)

All dues go entirely to support the operating expenses of the organization: printing, mailing, telephone cost, office supplies, etc. All officers and committee chairmen of the local chapters and the state Board of Directors serve without salary.

Each member of the organization receives a monthly newsletter which contains the next month's calendar of activities and social events for the chapter, items of general interest and announcements of special events. Every member also receives a copy of the organizations Bylaws and Standing Rules and a complete roster of members for a local chapter.