“When my mom died, I felt achingly alone. It was an isolation that I had never experienced before. But as soon as I started attending dinners about a month and a half later, that loneliness abated. It was kind of a Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz moment — I was stepping out of a completely colorless world and back into something that was richer and more vibrant than before. I felt like I could start reclaiming my life again. The Dinner Party is life-changing. Full stop."
— Alix, Philadelphia
Our Mission
To transform some of our hardest conversations and most isolating experiences into sources of community support, candid conversation, and forward movement using the age old practices of gathering and breaking bread.
Our Vision
We foresee a day in which people find amidst their deepest struggle the source of their deepest strength, by connecting with others who’ve been there too; a day in which grief is free of stigma and silence, and where finding friends who’ve shared your experience is as easy as finding an AA meeting or a yoga class. We foresee a day in which those who’ve lived through loss, whatever its form, are recognized not as objects of pity, but as better listeners and better leaders, characterized by profound empathy, resilience, agency and a commitment to living a life of meaning.
About Us
The Dinner Party is a platform for grieving 21-45-year-olds to find community, peer-led support, and build lasting relationships. Since 2014, The Dinner Party has connected more than 13,000 grieving peers to one another, including 2,000 since the start of the pandemic. We screen, train and support a growing network of peer Hosts, and connect them to 10-12 other grievers, who share a similar age, identity, or loss experience through Tables or 1:1 in our Buddy System. We’ve been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, On Being with Krista Tippet, CNN, NYT, O Magazine, BuzzFeed, and dozens of other publications, and as a case study in various books, including The Upside of Stress, The New Better Off, and The Power of Meaning.
Let's do dinner, shall we?
Our Impact
Since June 2020:
7,019
people have been connected to peer-led grief support, with 3,640 gathering in small groups at a Table and over 3,170 people matched 1:1 through the Buddy System.
1,154
new trained volunteer Hosts leading 310 Tables across the country.
307
affinity spaces have been created by, and for, those with shared identity or loss experiences including: BIPOC, LGBTQ+, homicide-loss, partner-loss, and more.
22
new cities where grievers are gathering.
In the Fall of 2021, we conducted a survey about the experiences of Virtual Table participants.
With the help of social scientists Dr. Laura Brady and Dr. Tobin Belzer, 222 Dinner Partiers from 82 of our 120 Virtual Tables completed the survey. Here are some preliminary findings:
97%
recommend The Dinner Party to a friend. (Indeed, 81% already had.)
95%
of respondents indicated that their table allowed them to form relationships with people with whom they would not normally connect.
92%
of respondents indicated that their table played an important role in their journey with grief.
84%
of respondents considered people at their table to be friends.
And as a result of participating in TDP, the majority of respondents indicated they:
86%
Experienced a sense of belonging
84%
Expanded their support networks
70%
Developed empathy for themselves
70%
Developed empathy for others
“Before The Dinner Party, I was always the outlier. Now I've found a place I belong, and I can't imagine my life without my tribe."
— Dani, Charlotte