Coming to terms with the loss of a loved one is a traumatic and isolating experience. Dealing with it alone only magnifies its impact and extends the bereavement process and can lead to long-term mental health issues.
For young people especially, processing complex emotions like sadness, anger, fear, and confusion is an overwhelming experience. But it’s one that can often be helped by having their feelings validated in a safe environment with others who are experiencing the same trauma.
Celebrating its 30th year the weekend of August 10th, Compass Regional Hospice will continue its mission to provide grief support at Camp New Dawn and will again host its grief retreat for children, teens, and families on the grounds of Camp Pecometh in Centreville.
The three-day, two-night camp provides children, teens, and families a safe environment for group discussions, participation in healing activities, and connecting with peers with the guidance of professional grief counselors.
Campers ages 7 to 17 attend therapeutic workshops and age-specific grief support groups and participate in supervised camp activities such as swimming, fishing, drumming, yoga, and arts and crafts.
Camp New Dawn Director Rhonda Knotts says that one of the many empowering traditions that has become the heart of the annual summer retreat is the frequency with which campers return as counselors to pass along the experience that helped them through the grieving process.
Each child and teen is paired with a volunteer counselor or “Buddy,” who, along with former campers known as “PALS,” offers a strong support network throughout the day’s activities. Campers are divided into groups and engage in various activities such as yoga, swimming, or fishing. They also participate in age-specific grief support groups or art classes, where they can visualize and express their emotions.
“We are very deliberate in the way that we assign our children, their adult buddy for the three days. We go by common likes, like, maybe we have a little soccer player. And we know that, Joe, who’s one of our adult buddies, loves to kick around the soccer ball, or maybe they had a similar loss. Maybe Joe lost his dad when he was 10. And the little guy we’re going to assign to him, you know, just lost his father or parent. So, there’s a lot of things that go into assigning people to where they’re going to be,” Knotts says.
Compass Regional Day Camp also reaches into the schools in the tri-county area.
“We do a lot of grief support in the schools. Last year, we provided grief support to about 140 kids in all three counties. So, we always make it very clear that it doesn’t have to end there. And sometimes, it works the other way. We get them to camp. And they want to know, well, what else can I do? And we say, well, we can come to your school,” Knotts says.
With extraordinary support from regional businesses and vendors, the camp schedules are carefully planned months in advance. Compass provides training for new counselors and is always looking for additional support.
The Spy recently talked with Camp New Dawn Director Rhonda Knotts and adult grief counselor Sherrie Young.
To find out more about Compass Regional Hospice’s Camp New Dawn, how to contribute, or volunteer, go here.
This video is approximately eight minutes in length.
