Some stories begin with joy. Ours began with loss.

In 2003, a little girl named Aspen left this world — and in her memory, something quietly took root that would one day change the lives of hundreds of grieving people across Montana.

For over a decade, her mother (Kira Pertuit) carried that grief the way so many of us do — in silence, without a roadmap, because no one ever taught us how to grieve well. Then in 2016, she discovered the Grief Recovery Method and became the first person to bring it to the state of Montana. Not for recognition. But because she knew she couldn’t be the only one who needed it.

Aspen’s Angels was born from a single, unforgettable week when person after person reached out asking about loss and grief. The message was clear — people needed a place to go. And so one griever decided to build one.

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That is who we are. Grievers helping grievers.

In 2022, Tara Goodwin found Aspen’s Angels at one of the hardest moments of her life — after losing her husband. She came through the program, found her footing, and never left. Today she stands alongside our founder as part of a team built not from textbooks, but from lived experience, hard-won healing, and deep compassion for anyone walking through loss.

We don’t come to this work as outside observers. We come as people who have sat in the very same darkness our clients sit in today. That is what makes Aspen’s Angels different. That is what makes it work.

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For ten years, we have walked alongside the grieving people of Billings and beyond.

We guide individuals through the Grief Recovery Method in person and digitally. We host a free monthly support group open to anyone carrying any kind of loss. And we bring this healing work inside the walls of the Montana Women’s Prison — because grief does not stop at any door.

No judgment. No timeline. No one turned away.

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This year, we are doing something we have never done before.

We are going out on a limb.

The inaugural Still Standing Gala is our first-ever elegant fundraising event — a night to gather the community that has carried this work forward, hear the story of how it all began, and look toward the families we have yet to reach.

Ten years of showing up. Ten years of sitting in the hard places. Ten years of proof that grief, held by community, does not have to destroy you.

We are Still Standing.

And with your support — so will every family who finds their way to us in the years ahead.

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We would be deeply honored to have you at the table.

The Still Standing Gala. Coming soon to Billings, Montana.

Join us. Help us reach the next griever who just needs to know they are not alone.

Aspen's Angels Still Standing Fundraising Gala

10 Year Celebration: Origin Story