Comfort Zone Camps for Bereaved Children

Comfort Zone Camp is the nation’s largest bereavement camp. Comfort Zone Camps are offered free of charge to children ages 7-17 who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling or primary caregiver. Comfort Zone Camps create an environment where grieving children can have fun and break the isolation death often brings, while learning valuable coping skills for their daily lives. Typically campers attend at least 3-6 months after the loss, or any length of time beyond that.

At Comfort Zone Camp, kids are given:

• A place to tell their stories and feelings – Throughout the camp, kids meet in small groups called Healing Circles SM. The Healing Circles SM are broken down by age and are led by licensed grief therapists who interact and support the campers all weekend.* Within the Healing Circles SM, campers are allowed to talk about their loss – a subject often taboo in the real world where people don’t get it, and are uncomfortable hearing about it. Healing Circles SM also work together to do trust and team building activities.

• Validation from peers – At camp, kids get a chance to not only share the story of their loss in their own words, but just as important, they get to hear other kids’ stories as well. They receive validation in what they think and feel, support each other and quickly learn that they are not alone.

• Opportunities to say goodbye and remember loved ones – Most kids did not get the opportunity to say goodbye to their loved ones. Funerals are designed for adults to say goodbye, but there is often no official venue for kids. Our memorial service does this very thing. The campers sing songs, read poems, do skits, and more, in tribute to their loved ones. Parents and guardians are encouraged to attend. We also provide opportunities for our campers to remember their loved ones throughout the weekend through writing, art and group activities.

• Tools to help them after camp – Grief never goes away, and we recognize that kids will have tough days outside of camp.  We work to prepare our campers for the tough times that will come, and give them tools to help make those days more manageable. We discuss and model healthy coping skills, including ways to stay connected to loved ones through the years.

  • Fun - Kids often become miniature adults after experiencing the death of a loved one. Comfort Zone Camp also allows kids to get back to being kids again, and have fun. There are times for kickball, football, hiking, arts and crafts, s’mores, songs, games, and more.

    • The camps are held year-round in California, New Jersey and Virginia and are now coming to Massachusetts. They hope in to have 10 camps per year in MA in 2010. Camps generally are held on weekends; kids are dropped off at 4:30 Fri and picked up Sunday at 4:30. While getting established in Massachusetts they are offering two one-day sessions in the fall, or “mini-camps” that children as young as 5 may attend. The mini-camps are being held on October 10 th in Milton and October 11 in Beverly (camp calendar). Both mini-camps offer a simultaneous parent program to provide support and learn about camp (childcare for younger children provided).

    Financial aide for travel costs (gas money, train) is available on request.

    Their website is: www.comfortzonecamp.org

    Download the registration form.

    See photos, video of the camp experience at: www.comfortzonecamp.org/campexperience.

    -Thanks to Paula Gauthier for passing on this information and Kate Stern of Comfort Zone Camps for her help with this article.

     

    7/09