Our staff and Executive Director Dr. Tina Barrett have facilitated bereavement camps since 1997. Set amidst Montana’s pines and mountain lakes, our nature-based, strength-oriented grief camps integrate recommendations from best practices in the field, evaluations, and research. We offer a variety of overnight grief camps and retreats.
If you’d like to learn more about any of our camps and retreats, please contact us using the button below.
A Camp to Remember:
Youth Camp
FLAThead lake: August 8-11, 2024
A Camp to Remember: Youth Camp is a fun, supportive, and healing summer camp for kids in grades 3rd-9th who are grieving the death of a family member. A Camp To Remember (ACTR) offers kids unique opportunities for grief work and commemorative activities. Under the guidance of professionals with expertise in bereavement and outdoor activities, grieving and remembering are balanced with a healthy dose of traditional camp fun: swimming, canoeing, kayaking, campfires, games, singing, arts and crafts, treasure hunts, nature walks, and “secret pals.”
Many campers return year after year, acting as mentors to those attending camp for the first time. Experienced campers in high school can participate as a Peers-As-Leaders (PALs), helping out with younger campers. To become a PAL, a teen must be a responsible, enthusiastic, positive role model with strong leadership skills and past ACTR or Teen Retreat experience.
It is difficult to find words to describe what it is that makes A Camp to Remember so special. As part of their Senior Project at Hellgate High School, Melissa Hurt and Madisun Bessette created a video that did just that (above).
“A Camp To Remember is truly a magical place. Although it’s a ‘bereavement’ camp, I feel that its main accomplishment is the ability to celebrate life.”
“For me [camp] was like letting go and holding on at the same time…It also helped me learn to hold on to my sister and my best friend in my heart and memory by carrying on with my life and sharing with others their strengths and my own.”
A Camp To Remember Youth Camp includes:
Consultation with parent/guardian to determine child’s likelihood to benefit from grief camp
Information packets to families (camp info, grief resources, and tip sheets)
Training packet to staff (info on childhood grief, leadership, communication, activities)
6-hour Professional Training/Orientation for Staff Team
4-day, 3-night Grief Camp at Georgetown Lake
T-shirts and stuffed animals for campers – symbols of care and togetherness
Parent/Guardian Workshop – “Supporting Our Kids, Supporting Ourselves”
Family Day: Bringing campers and families together to share stories, songs and good food!
Holiday Cards: Greetings and support for kids and staff during the winter
Camp Reunions: Gatherings for campers to maintain contact and strengthen support network
A Camp To Remember:
Day Camps
Missoula, KALISPELL & BROWNING: JULY 2024
A Camp to Remember "Day Camps" bring all the magic of the camp experience to a daily format. These are intended for kids entering 1st-8th grade who are grieving the death of a family member or loved one. We will meet 9:00am-3:00pm each day, blending traditional camp activities and fun with chances to honor loved ones through creative expression, ritual, and story.
Teen Retreats
Grieving teens, these retreats are for you to gather with other teens who understand. Our retreats at Flathead Lake, Missoula, and the Bitterroot Valley focus on the unique needs of grieving teens. Many become leaders and support younger campers.
A Retreat to Remember
TBD, FALL 2024
Take the time to slow down. You deserve a break at the lake. A Retreat to Remember offers a weekend of connection, understanding, and healing for adults grieving the death of a family member or loved one. Our time together will blend creative and interactive workshops, opportunities to reflect, honor, and remember, all amidst the beaty of our natural surroundings. Opt in or out of workshops as they appeal to you - this is YOUR time.
A Family Camp to Remember
TBD, fall 2024
Bring the whole family to grief camp! Our camps and programs integrate and emphasize the importance of systems and relationships, especially family. At A Family Camp to Remember, families who have experienced the death of family member come together for opportunities to connect as a family and in age-based breakout groups, exploring the unique considerations of grief within our family system and at different ages and life stages. We bring in symbolic, narrative, creative, and physical outlets to express and explore our grief responses.
Women’s Rendezvous
FLATHEAD LAKE: MAy 3-5, 2024
Women of the Rendezvous. Gather for a weekend getaway. Whether on the shores of Flathead Lake or nestled into the mountains, Women’s Rendezvous offers a weekend of connection, understanding, hope, tears, laughter and healing for women-identifying individuals grieving the death of a family member or loved one.
Parent/Guardian Workshops
Parents of bereaved children face the challenge of supporting their children while journeying through their own grief. Parents are invited to join staff on the last day of camp for a workshop focusing on what happened at camp, ideas for supporting grieving kids, differences between child and adult grief, and what parents can do to take care of themselves while nurturing their kids.