Hello
In most of Canada, February brings a day set aside to celebrate family. For Threads of Life families, there's no celebration, but many do find ways to honour their family's experience, by helping others. This month we bring you stories focused on families, including a story of healing, a record breaking partnership, and one of our favourite ways for your team to come together in support of families living with the aftermath of workplace tragedy. 
Families forever changed
When someone dies at work, their entire family is forever changed. Sometimes, that change leads them to places they never thought they’d be. That’s certainly true for Johanna LeRoux and her daughter Jasmine Fisher. Johanna, a self-professed introvert, is now passionately sharing how a simple short-cut at work took the life of her son Micheal. Micheal was a roofer who ran quickly up a ladder to get something without attaching his fall arrest equipment. Micheal’s sister Jasmine is also a volunteer family guide, helping other young people with the impacts of grief on mental health. Workplace tragedies truly do have a ripple effect. They impact every member of a worker’s family—and change lives in ways that could never be predicted.
Record setting fundraiser
At Threads of Life, we are fortunate to have partners who understand the ripple effects of a workplace tragedy. Whether it is in our communities, our workplaces or our families, we all know of a worker and their family who have been forever changed. We are grateful to have a longstanding partnership with TriWest Capital Partners. In 2018, the TriWest Capital Partners Forum raised $156,000 which was donated equally to Threads of Life and Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society—smashing fundraising records from the forum’s five year history. TriWest’s Partners Forum takes place annually, bringing together their portfolio companies, financial institutions, legal advisors and accounting firms to support charities. Thank you, TriWest, for your continuing support!
Register today for Steps for Life!
There are a thousand ways to support families of workplace tragedy—and one of our favourites is just around the corner! Registration for our annual Steps for Life — Walking for Families of Workplace Tragedy just opened yesterday. When you walk in Steps for Life, you’re showing families living with the aftermath of a workplace tragedy that they aren’t alone, and supporting them on their journey of healing. Get a few (or many!) of your colleagues together and be one of the first teams to register for the 2019 walk as part of our Team Challenge. The best part? Registering early lets you get a jump start on fundraising! The top five teams across the country are listed on our Steps for Life website homepage. 
On our blog:
New Year, New Faces, and New Opportunities

During 2018 you may have noticed a few blogs with a theme of change. In August I wrote about getting comfortable with change on the way to growth. Society gives us the message of change being a frightful thing and we try to think that each day we ...

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Rising from the ashes of grief: in strength, courage,...

We've been holding Volunteer Family Guide training periodically since 2005. One of our incredible long-term facilitators, Audrey Stringer, was recently reading old journals and shares below her reflections from one of these days - companioning...

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