Local doctor creates free grief and loss notification app 'MileStone Five'

Posted: Apr 3, 2024 / 03:16 PM EDT

Updated: Apr 3, 2024 / 06:30 PM EDT

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – “No one should ever have to grieve alone.” A local doctor and longtime social worker is working to support those experiencing grief and loss.

Dr. Cheryl Chavers created the MileStone Five grief and loss notification app after assisting a friend through the loss of her mom. Since then, Chavers has worked with countless families and individuals through her career as a child social worker and domestic violence specialist.

“What I found in my professional career is that there are many people who are experiencing grief or loss,” Chavers said. “Initially, there’s a lot of support for them. People are calling, checking on them, attending the funeral. There are meal trains. Then, in the weeks to follow, the months to follow, there’s no more follow-up. People stop calling.”

It’s around that time that the grief and loss is intensified and the shock wears off, Chavers said. It’s when the reality of the devastating loss begins to fully settle in.

“It can be very difficult for them,” Chavers said. “We wanted to provide support to people who wanted to bridge that gap.”

The MileStone Five mobile app is free and available on all mobile devices. Click here for iPhone and here for Android.

After creating an account on the application, supporters of those grieving may create ‘milestones’ throughout the year to assist with the five stages of grief studied by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a Swiss-American psychiatrist.

“That one month anniversary, three months after the loss, a year after the loss, that person’s birthday, you would create those milestones,” Chavers said. “Then afterward, you would invite people to join you in supporting you and supporting the individual who’s experiencing the loss. Then you would receive notifications in advance letting you know that a milestone is coming up.”

Those healing from a traumatic event such as a miscarriage or leaving an abusive relationship may also need the app.

“I wanted to find a way to help people who are hurting,” Chavers said. “There are so many different types of loss. Someone who’s experienced a divorce, someone who has lost a job or they had a fire and they lost their home. Those are all life events where that individual needs support along the milestones.”

People can have issues that aren’t addressed after experiencing a loss, Chavers said, and that’s partially due to not having support through those times.

“This app is a stepping stone in that direction to provide that support,” Chavers said.

Following the conspection of MileStone Five app, Chavers experienced the loss of her mom Gladys Osbourne after a cancer diagnoses.

“I was devastated,” Chavers said. “I said, ‘No one should have to feel this pain by themselves.’ She didn’t get a chance to see this materialize. She was such a giving and loving person. This is exactly something that she would do. I’m getting a chance to live out her legacy.”

Chavers credits her husband, family and friends for supporting her through this journey.

“I was working on [the app], my doctorial degree and my mother passing away … all of those things happening at the same time,” Chavers said. “It feels good to give back to the community that has given so much to me.”