Grief affects nearly everyone, yet it remains one of the most neglected human experiences. In the United States, up to 70% of bereaved people report receiving little or no meaningful support from workplaces, communities, or healthcare systems.
Grief is not simply sadness — it significantly impacts biological and psychological systems. Grief is associated with symptoms like chronic fatigue, sleep disruption, and increased inflammation — showing how intimately it affects the body as well as the mind.
Grief is often overlooked because it is invisible, difficult to measure, and uncomfortable to witness. Cultural pressure to “move on” reinforces the idea that grief is a private matter rather than a shared societal responsibility.
As a result, grief is rarely addressed in schools, workplaces, or health systems, leaving millions without guidance, community, or space to process loss—despite recognition by public health authorities that unaddressed bereavement is one of the most universal and least addressed mental health challenges of our time.
See, for example, research summarized by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and World Health Organization–commissioned guidelines on bereavement and mental health care.
Young adults between 18 and 30 are especially vulnerable, navigating grief during a formative life stage often without stable support systems, clear guidance, or socially accepted space to grieve.
Young adults are a core focus of the Edmont Foundation. They are among the least supported after loss—yet grief during this stage can shape an entire life trajectory.
Between 18 and 30, loss often collides with identity formation, education, early career, and independence. When grief goes unsupported, it can disrupt emotional development, confidence, relationships, academic progress, and physical health.
Many young adults lack stable support systems and are less likely to seek help. At the same time, they frequently fall between youth- and adult-focused services—leaving grief unaddressed at a pivotal moment.
Research shows that prolonged grief reactions in adolescents are associated with increased risk of depression and functional impairment, underscoring the long-term consequences of unsupported loss. Melhem NM
Despite affecting millions, grief remains largely absent from public health policy, education systems, and national mental-health planning. The scale of bereavement in the United States is significant — yet the infrastructure to respond to it is fragmented, inconsistent, and often inaccessible.
An estimated 1 in 14 American children will experience the death of a parent or sibling before age 18 — representing more than 4.8 million bereaved youth nationwide. That number more than doubles by age 25. Eluna
Bereavement in youth is strongly associated with increased risk of anxiety, depression, and other mental-health challenges. Society of Pediatric Psychology
Clinical research further recognizes that Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) — a persistent and impairing grief response — affects a meaningful percentage of bereaved individuals. American Psychiatric Association
Yet in the United States, there is no unified, government-supported national system for grief care. Support is largely ad hoc — dependent on charities, volunteers, or private therapy — leaving many without access at the time they need it most.
Young adults aging out of foster care do not struggle because they lack strength — they struggle because the system that raised them often disappears overnight.
At this threshold between state care and independent adulthood, our foundation offers a place of continuity for transition-age foster youth — a stable environment where the next chapter can begin with support rather than isolation.
Each year, approximately 20,000 young people age out of the U.S. foster care system without permanent family support. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
For many, foster placement followed the loss of parents through death, incarceration, addiction, abuse, or abandonment. While the legal case may close at age 18 or 21, the instability — and often the grief — does not.
Research shows that young adults who age out of foster care face sharply elevated risks:
Chapin Hall, University of Chicago
High rates of PTSD, depression, and anxiety among former foster youth are closely linked to early trauma, disrupted attachments, and unresolved loss. When state care ends abruptly, many are left to navigate adulthood without stable housing, mentorship, or emotional support — just as their peers are building identity, education, and opportunity.
Young adults transitioning from foster care do not need rescue — they need continuity: a place that remains when systems recede, steady ground beneath them when everything else has shifted.
Our foundation stands as that continuity — rooted in nature, dignity, mentorship, and meaningful work — where grief can be acknowledged, practical skills can take root, and stability is cultivated over time, moving young adults from survival toward belonging and long-term resilience.
LGBTQ+ youth are significantly overrepresented in the foster care system, meaning many face not only family loss and abrupt state transition, but also identity-based stigma and disenfranchised grief.
Grief does not affect LGBTQ+ youth more because of who they are, but because of how often their losses go unseen, unsupported, or stigmatized. At our foundation, everyone is seen and supported, regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation.
Research consistently shows that LGBTQ+ people experience grief under more difficult conditions than the general population. LGBTQ+ individuals face elevated rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts — for example, a large national survey found that 41 % of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered suicide in the past year, reflecting the heightened vulnerability many face when loss occurs. The Trevor Project
Loss in LGBTQ+ communities is often shaped by minority stress and social barriers. Stigma and discrimination contribute both to a higher risk of traumatic loss (including suicide) and to reduced access to affirming mental-health care, social support, and culturally appropriate mourning rituals. Cornell University
Grief may also be disenfranchised when relationships are not acknowledged or supported by family, community, or institutions, leaving bereaved LGBTQ+ people feeling unseen and isolated. Research on same-gender bereavement shows higher levels of complicated grief and psychiatric distress when losses are minimized or invalidated. Goldsmith et al.