31 October 2005

Camp Bridges
Helping children who have lost a parent to violence.

For children who have suffered the traumatic loss of a parent to homicide or suicide, Camp Bridges is a special, one-day camping experience. It's the one day when these children can talk and play without the sense of isolation that comes from having had a traumatic loss that others can't understand or don't want to talk about. Through the Camp's structured activities and shared experiences, the children grow, and they acquire hope. They learn how other children deal with troubling issues. They acquire the hope to think about the steps they might take to grow beyond the traumatic and disruptive event they have experienced.

Forty five children - ages 6 to 17 - spent the day at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Saturday, 15 October. More than fifty counselors, teachers, and others volunteered their time to organize and conduct the activities, and to take children to and from the event. Each child is paired with a volunteer counselor who helps the child with the day's events.

Rosemary Creeden, LISW, Manager of the Children Who Witness Violence program, with a camp participant.

Camp Bridges began three years ago, when staff members of the Children Who Witness Violence program explored new ways to reach traumatized children.

Camp Bridges is a collaborative effort of MHS, the Cuyahoga County Department of Justice Affairs Witness/Victim Service Center, and The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Bereavement Center of the Hospice of the Western Reserve.

Some activities were chosen simply for the joy of doing them. Hiking along the dramatic rock ledges, and seeing a woodland area being transformed by the onset of autumn are experiences that have a special impact on urban children. The art projects and impromptu pick-up football games provide their own diverse opportunities for self-expression. Other projects, such as the creation of a memory chest, facilitate the child’s thought and discussion about the meaning of a parent’s loss, or the anger felt about the loss.

Opportunities of this kind are believed to promote continued intellectual, emotional, and social development that may have been disrupted by a traumatic experience. For these projects, counselors sensitive to the meaning of a child's changing demeanor can make all the difference in the world.

A counselor helps a child with a Camp Bridges activity.

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Copyright (c) 2005
Mental Health Services for Homeless Persons, Inc. (MHS)
All Rights Reserved.
MHS, 1736 Superior Avenue East, Cleveland, Ohio 44114-2944 U.S.A.
Voice - 216-623-6555 / TDD - 216-623-6540

Julie Rittenhouse, President, Board of Trustees
Steven M. Friedman, Ph.D., Executive Director

Prior MHS Service Note newsletters can be accessed here.