Children’s Grief Connection Celebrates 10 Years with Expansion of Programs

By Coral Popowitz, Executive Director of Children's Grief Connection

Family Grief Connection programs grows into weekend

Back in January of 2003, the Minnesota Foundation for Children founded by the Minnesota Funeral Directors Association hosted its first Camp Amanda-Minnesota grief camp for kids. By 2007, when I had the honor of becoming executive director, Camp Amanda- Minnesota had served nearly 1,000 kids at 13 Camp Amanda-Minnesota sessions. In 2009, a name change to Children’s Grief Connection and Hearts of Hope camp ushered in a new organizational era as a leading resource for children’s grief programs in Minnesota. Approaching our tenth year we have held 27 camps serving more than 2,000 grieving children at Hearts of Hope camp and teen retreat, over 900 family members in Family Grief Connection, and thousands more in our Community Grief Connection programs. We are especially proud to be partnered the last two years with the Minnesota National Guard at their annual Gold Star Retreat for children and families of our fallen military. As we move into our next decade we continue to grow as a leader in children’s grief resources for the region. In January of this year the board of directors voted to expand our programs into the neighboring states of North and South Dakota and Wisconsin. We will host our first Wisconsin camp November 9, 10 & 11 in Trego, WI. ALL Minnesota families are welcome just as ALL Wisconsin, North and South Dakota families are welcome at our McGregor, MN camp on April 12, 13 & 14, 2013. This expansion allows us to continue to grow our partnership with funeral directors. Children’s Grief Connection is unique in that it is founded, funded and supported by funeral service; most grief camps are associated with hospitals, hospice or insurance companies. We are proud of our partnership and our ability to pro-mote funeral service. It is with that partnership in mind that we expand our Family Grief Connection programs to better serve the grieving adults you work with and care for every day. While their children and teens are attending Hearts of Hope camp and teen retreat, adult family members will now have an opportunity to attend a full day and a half of activities, support and sharing, giving them the tools to re-build their lives after the death of their loved one. With a program that reflects the activities of their children’s experience at Hearts of Hope camp, Family Grief Connection hopes to provide families with the connections that will help them move forward in their grief journey, together, as a family. This pilot program includes free lodging and meals for the weekend thanks to our partnership with Thrivent Financial and Thrivent Community. We are limited to twenty families. A $100 refundable deposit per family is required to reserve a space. While our growth and program changes are exciting one thing remains consistent; our mission to bring hope and healing to grieving families leads us today as it did over 10 years ago. The founding of our organization by funeral directors, the supportive partnership we continue today and in the future is based on that mutual mission. Thank you funeral directors, for 10 incredible years.

Jason's Camp Experience

If there were a geographical location called “Hearts of Hope Camp”, I would consider it sacred ground. In a similar way that I feel the presence of my creator when I join others in worship, I also feel a very physical presence when I am at camp. Sometimes it feels like Freedom and sometimes it would be better described as Fear. Sometimes I recognize it as Sadness, while other times it feels more like Complete Trust. One thing I know it to be. . . is REAL.

As Camp weekend approaches I get nervous. I begin to think about the kids I will meet, all with their own stories, all in the midst of their grief. I know from previous weekends, that Camp will be an amazing experience for them, but it doesn’t stop me from worrying. Will I have the words? Will I recognize their pain? Will I see beyond their mask? Will what I have to offer, be worth the risk to accept it?  I want so much for the kids to experience the healing and hope that Camp can bring, I’m afraid of failing them. I arrive at Camp with some fear.

The campers arrive each with their own style. For some this means ready and willing, for many it means suited in armor.  That armor has a purpose, and that purpose is protection. Many children have learned through the death of a loved one, that getting close to people only leads to pain, and pain is a very personal thing. Being vulnerable with others is a risk, but we know that only when we can share who we really are, can we truly get close with one another.

At Camp we share. We share jokes, we share tears, we share questions and we share our answers. We ride waves of laughter; we walk together through valleys of sorrow. It is amazing how quickly we all connect.  I believe this happens because at Camp, we create a place where it is completely safe to be exactly who we are. One of the foundations of Camp is, “All feelings are OK.” The campers connect as they recognize themselves in each other’s music, in each other’s questions, and in each other’s stories. I’ve heard from so many campers, “It is such a relief to be around other people who have been through what I have, who know just how I feel.”

As I think about Camp, and why it is such a turning point for so many children, I have come to understand that Camp is an amazing place for many reasons. The activities we do are purposeful and research based, the food is excellent, there is a variety of staff that all share the characteristic of having a heart for grieving children and Camp is always held at a place of natural beauty. However, the key ingredient for Camp being such an amazing and healing experience is the bravery of the campers. Their courage to lay down their armor, to tell their story, to let each other in, this is why Camp works.  It is the campers who, through their strength to be weak, create the atmosphere of complete acceptance and compassion.  It is truly awe inspiring to witness how they care for one another.

Will I return to volunteer at Hearts of Hope Camp? Absolutely. Will I have some fear next time I am preparing for Camp? Yes, but that is OK and it’s healthy. What I know I will find as I walk through the doors at the next camp is a bunch of friends ready to accept me exactly where I am. They will welcome me, exactly me, as we all prepare to walk beside the grieving campers we are so privileged to work with.