Camp creates safe space for children dealing with grief

A room full of laughter, welcoming smiles, and various animal noises set a light-hearted tone for a group of young people attending their first day of camp last week at First Presbyterian Church in Warner Robins.

One might not expect such wide smiles from children dealing with grief and loss.

The children were attending Camp Good Grief, a local initiative that aims to provide hope and healing to children who have experienced loss of any kind, from the death of loved ones, to their parents’ divorce, deployment or incarceration.

The camp provides children ages 6-14 with grief education and helps them understand that their feelings are normal and that they are not alone.

Camp Good Grief began 19 years ago and holds sessions in Macon, Eastman, Milledgeville and Warner Robins. Sponsored by the Hospice Care Options Foundation, the camp is run by volunteers and financed in part by donations from the community.

When a young person experiences loss, it “has the potential to affect a child for their entire life,” volunteer Tina Cansler Clark said. “What we hope to do in Camp Good Grief is to give them tools that they can use as they move through their life and they learn to integrate whatever the loss they’re experiencing.”

At the three-day Warner Robins camp, children attended group therapy sessions with professionals. The therapies are nontraditional, encompassing art, music and writing. There is even pet therapy.

On the final day of camp, the children invite their parents and present their artwork.

Many of the volunteers have also experienced loss, which helps foster a sense of community that may not be found in an individual counseling setting.

There is a noticeable change in the lives of participating kids, said Tammie Malone, a volunteer whose son has attended the camp.

Malone said her son “had a lot of bad dreams after seeing his brother hooked up on the machines at the hospital, and it helped him to be able to cope with that. They made dream catchers during art and he still has it hanging over his bed and it takes those bad dreams away.”

Camp Good Grief is held every summer and is free of charge. The Macon Camp Good Grief will be held at Vineville Baptist Church from 8:15 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 21-23.

This story was originally published June 14, 2017 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Camp creates safe space for children dealing with grief."