MONTEREY COUNTY — In 2010, a man in Ōtsuchi, Japan, placed an unconnected rotary phone in his garden to help cope with the loss of his cousin. Speaking his grief aloud became a personal source of solace — and over time, his idea inspired a global movement.
Now, the Papillon Center for Loss & Transition is bringing this powerful tradition to Monterey County. In honor of National Grief Awareness Day on Aug. 30, Papillon unveiled its Wind Phone Project, a series of public art installations designed to provide spaces of remembrance, reflection and healing.
The first Wind Phone will debut later this month at the Salinas campus of Coastal Kids Home Care, Papillon’s parent organization. Created in collaboration with muralist Paul Richmond and sponsored by the Arts Council for Monterey County, the installation transforms a vintage newsstand donated by Monterey County Weekly into a quiet sanctuary where anyone may pause, pick up the phone and speak words of remembrance to loved ones who have died.
“Grief is not a problem to be solved — it is an experience to be witnessed and supported,” said Joy Smith, founder of Papillon. “The Wind Phone Project provides a deeply symbolic and therapeutic way to help normalize grief by giving people permission to say what is often left unsaid.”
Additional Wind Phones will be installed in South Monterey County and Peninsula locations by year’s end, with the full list of sites to be announced later this year.
“Papillon supports people in their grief journey, whether it is new or whether they’ve been living with loss for some time,” Smith said. “A goal for our participants is guiding them in maintaining a connection to those no longer physically present. The Wind Phone is a powerful tool for connecting and healing.”
A program of Coastal Kids Home Care, Papillon offers professionally led grief support groups, a peer support program, educational offerings and one-on-one assistance to help individuals and families navigate loss and create resilience, all offered at no cost. Learn more at papilloncenter.org.
