Parenting Support Club
About the MWC Virtual Parenting Support Club
The Modern Widows Club Parenting Support Club is a virtual volunteer-led community designed specifically to support widowed parenting as they navigate the unique challenges of parenting after loss. It serves parents with children of all ages, from infancy through young adulthood and is to supplement the benefits of local and other virtual communities.
In a nutshell, the Parenting Support Club cares for widowed parents so that they can better care for their children.
Research has identified specific factors that help grieving families adapt and remain close after the death of a parent. The MWC Parenting Support Club shares these insights and provides practical tips on incorporating them into family life. Members discuss strategies for addressing children’s grief, bereaved parenting tactics, fostering strong family bonds, effective discipline and essential role of self-care. Additionally, the group encourages peer connections and allows members to share personal experiences and parenting advice in widowhood.
Understanding the demands and unpredictable schedules of widowed parents, the MWC Parenting Support Club operates primarily through a private Facebook group and a monthly newsletter.
In addition, it offers Zoom calls, family travel opportunities and other special events such as book discussions, a bereaved parenting skills program and webinars.
How to Join
Fill out the club sign-up form below to request to join the MWC Parenting Support Club.
Meet the Parenting Support Club Facilitator
Michelle W.
Just after midnight on New Year's Eve 2005, Michelle received the devastating news that her husband of 11 years had been killed by a reckless driver. At the age of 40, she was left to raise their heartbroken 7 and 9 year old daughters. Over many years, she navigated the lengthy process of rebuilding a family while supporting her children's grief and processing her own. Along the way, she crossed paths with other widowed parents and developed close friendships with them, experiencing firsthand how peers can provide a unique support that only comes from "someone who gets it.” Once her children were grown, she wanted to "pay it forward" by creating a supportive community of widowed parents.
To complement her lived experience, she completed a Master of Science in Family & Human Development at Arizona State University in 2022-23, focusing all of her research on the needs of grieving families. In the process, she discovered Modern Widows Club and knew she had found a place to connect with widowed parents. She assumed the role of Parenting Support Club Facilitator in early 2023, and launched the current peer support and widowed parent education programs in January 2024. Later that year, she received certification as a Trained Coach of the Online Resilient Parenting for Bereaved Families program, and has since been guiding parents through its evidence-based curriculum. She is also a Certified Positive Discipline Educator and graduate of the Cal Voices Wise-U Peer Support Specialist Training program.
Michelle fervently believes that all widowed parents need and deserve support in their very demanding role. She is deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve, educate, and encourage widowed parents through her role as Parenting Support Club Facilitator.