A Camp to Support Children Grieving Someone They Love
Get support in a safe environment where children can express their emotions, connect with others, and begin to heal.
Camp Courage Offers Healing for Children
Children from six to fourteen years old, who are struggling with the loss of someone they were close to, are invited to come to Camp Courage held each year in June. For three days and two nights at Pioneer Trails Camp on Big Blue Lake, the children enjoy swimming, games, and campfires, along with activities like story time and working side-by-side on craft projects. In the company of trained counselors and volunteers, the activities prompt meaningful conversations and help campers begin to understand their often complicated feelings and questions around the death of someone they loved so much.
Camp Courage is open to any referred child in our five-county service region. The cost is the $10 application fee, made possible by the support of the Harbor Hospice Foundation.
Stories from Camp Courage
“The campers are often experiencing their first major loss, and everything they do at Camp Courage is focused on helping make their grief process feel normal,” says Pamela Wingard, manager of Social Work and Counseling Services. “For example, craft projects they work on are designed to help the children relate to a memory of their loved one, and that usually invites them to share a story of that person. That process allows them to connect with other children who have also lost a loved one. Instead of feeling alone in their grief, they realize they have people around them who understand.”
As volunteer Bob Harter observed, “At Camp Courage, the children get to unload the burden they have been carrying.”
That can be a big relief for campers who feel isolated or are deeply sad and who don’t know how to talk about it.
“If we can help our campers sleep better at night,” says Camp Courage volunteer Jules Terry, “if we can answer their questions and let them know we are in their corner, we can help their healing process.”
Camp Courage 2025
Camp Courage is open to any child in our five-county service region ages 6-14 years old. Children can be referred by a concerned parent or guardian, a teacher or neighbor, a physician — anyone who knows the child and believes that Camp Courage will provide them an opportunity to play and grieve and begin to heal.
Who is eligible?
Camp Courage is available to any child in our region who is referred to us by an adult such as a teacher, counselor, pastor, parent, or guardian.
To keep Camp Courage affordable for any family, we continue to charge only an application fee of $10, which we waive if needed. The Harbor Hospice Foundation covers the cost for each child to attend, thanks to the grants and donations it receives.
