Chloe Lattanzi on Grief and Keeping Olivia Newton-John's Mission Alive: 'This Work Is Helping Me Not Lose It'

Chloe Lattanzi is officially following in her mother's footsteps.

Less than a week after eulogizing her mom — beloved pop music and Grease icon Olivia Newton-John who died from breast cancer last August at age 73 — Chloe Lattanzi, 37, has announced she will be taking the reins of her mother's annual Walk for Wellness in Australia, alongside stepfather John Easterling.

"It's an incredible honor," says Lattanzi of leading the cancer walk fundraiser that will take place for only the second time without Newton-John this October in Melbourne. "I could never imagine letting my mom's dream die, and I feel her inside of me, guiding me, like 'This is your job. This is what you're supposed to do.'"

It's not the first time Lattanzi has sensed her late mother's presence. At Newton-John's state funeral on Feb. 26, "I was very overwhelmed before I got up on stage," she tells PEOPLE. "It's not an easy thing because for me, it's my mother, it's a human being that I treasured more than anything in the world and I had to stand up in front of the world and express my grief."

She continues, "But there was just something…I feel my mom with me every day, we have conversations every day and I felt her just enter me and walk me up those stairs. She would always say to me, 'You're so much stronger than you know,' and I remembered those words."

Besides mom, whom Lattanzi says is like "'I'm not quite leaving yet, I'm staying with you right now'," her support system includes husband James Driskill, her father Matt Lattanzi and her stepfather.

"John and I were taking care of her together," she says of the time they spent during Newton-John's final days. "There's such a strong bond and my heart just breaks for him. He's my other father. I will always be the person that he can lean on."

And the two will be working closely as co-lead's of the upcoming 10th walk to support the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre, which offers both traditional cancer treatments and research as well as holistic wellness support like oncological massages, acupuncture and music therapy.

"I really want to expand the wellness center and what's available to people," she says of her plans for patient services like, "IV drips of vitamins and minerals and even maybe a bar where they can get herbal remedies." She adds, "My mom far outlived what most people expected because of these medicinal properties."

Still, Lattanzi says the star is gone too soon, and the sadness she's experiencing is powerful.

"For anyone who's gone through grief, it's a rollercoaster," says Lattanzi. "It's like you're in the ocean and it'll be quiet and still and all of a sudden the giant wave comes and sweeps you deep down. I think doing this work for her is helping me. It's helping me not lose it, if that makes any sense, because I'm keeping her dream alive."