Help the Stefanowich’s Grieve Comfortably

Hello, my name is Jade Oswald. I am the niece/cousin writing to support her Aunty Chris, Uncle John and cousins Jesse, Kirstie, Carly, and Justin during a time of immense grief and trauma.

In March of 2021 our beloved family member - Sister, Mother, Aunty, Friend- Cathy was murdered. It is as shocking to us now as it was in those first awful days after losing her. She meant the world to us and many more, and to say her presence is sorely missed is the ultimate understatement.

Cathy’s family has been through a harrowing 2.5 years dealing with all that comes with a loss of this magnitude. No death is easy or simple in its aftermath but something of this nature has and will continue to have long lasting and far reaching impacts. Amidst the unimaginable shock and grief that her family is still carrying and suffering with, they have also had to incur a multitude of unforeseen financial burdens in relation to the horrific incident. I’ve decided to create this fundraiser to ease some of that financial burden for them and to have a way of accessing some long term therapeutic and bereavement care.

When someone is murdered, the arduous process of healing, justice, and wrapping up all of the loose ends left behind does not simply end with the funeral. This September there came another time of immense grief, trauma, stress, and financial strain with her family having to attend the trial for the perpetrator. As you can imagine, a trial opens wounds and adds to the mountain of trauma hearing details and seeing the perpetrator. Cathy’s family had to take weeks off of work and travel 3 hours away from Winnipeg to attend the trial, paying $3000 just for accommodation, not including gas, food or lost wages. Her niece also had to travel from BC to be there, incurring additional travel expenses. In the past 2.5 years they have collectively needed to miss many months of work due to this event. This loss has been earth shattering for Cathy’s family. In the 2.5 years since there have been court dates, lawyer fees, lengthy travels to and from her rural home to sort out her belongings and estate, flight costs, and now the additional burden of attending the trial, leaving nothing for therapy or to take time to heal in peace. In the near future they will need to travel again to attend and speak at the sentencing hearing. To be in a state of such ongoing grief, this ever growing financial stress is something that nobody should have to endure. Life keeps rolling as do the bills and costs to live. It’s unimaginably difficult to pick up the pieces when this is still a deeply traumatic, ongoing, dynamic, and changing situation.

I would like to raise funds to contribute specifically to:

I would not wish this situation upon my worst enemy. Cathy’s family has been through so much, and really prefers privacy in this matter. It’s taken a lot of thought, encouragement, and discussion for them to accept help in such a public way but truth be told this awful saga isn’t over yet. I hope that we as a community can pull together and support this wonderful, close knit, loving family as they continue to endure the most challenging circumstances of their lives.

Thank you for taking the time to read, please consider donating if you have the means and please share with your community.