Healing Through Connection: Hosparus Health Grief Counseling Center’s G-FORCE Summer Day Camp Returns
- Grief Counseling
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Free camp helps youth learn coping skills while finding connections and community after a loss.
(LOUISVILLE, KY) — Back again for the second time this summer, the Hosparus Health Grief Counseling Center team is hosting G-Force Summer Day Camp from June 11 to 14. Children ages 6-12 who are coping with a loss due to death are invited to attend this one-of-a-kind camp experience.
Campers will explore their “animal grief” while learning how animals cope with loss at the Louisville Zoo and “act out their grief” through expressive activities with Kentucky Shakespeare. They will learn about the history of death and cultural traditions at Cave Hill Cemetery and participate in a grief boot camp at the YMCA, exploring the mind-body connection. Licensed grief and loss counselors will guide campers through their daily themed activities, supported by screened and trained volunteers.
“Taking care of personal grief along with peers who are doing the same helps us realize we are not alone,” said Hosparus Health Grief Counselor and Camp Director Joe Ferry, LPAT, CT. “Helping someone else by sharing our own experience can give purpose to our loss. This camp provides a safe, nurturing space where campers can get to know their grief while finding comfort and courage in the company of others.”
Camp starts each day at 9 a.m. at the Hosparus Health Grief Counseling Center, 3526 Ephraim McDowell Drive, Louisville, KY. From there, campers are transported to the day’s activities before returning to the Grief Counseling Center for pickup at 4:30 p.m. Free daily transportation is available for campers in West Louisville, with morning pick-up at 8:25 a.m. and evening drop-off at 5 p.m. at the Republic Bank Foundation YMCA, 1720 W. Broadway, Louisville, KY. Learn more about this option during registration.
“Grief is a force of nature. But so are we,” added Ferry. “Campers not only learn how to cope with loss; they learn how to thrive.”
The program is free of charge for all participants, thanks to a generous donation from the Frances N. Alden Charitable Trust. The application deadline is Friday, May 17, 2024. For more information or to register, please visit hosparushealth.org/gforcecamp, or call 502-546-5451.
Camp Evergreen
Mark your calendars for the weekend of October 25-27 for the 29th annual Camp Evergreen, a family bereavement camp weekend at Country Lake Christian Retreat Center in Underwood, Indiana. Just 30 minutes north of downtown Louisville, Camp Evergreen provides a safe, comfortable environment for families to face their grief, both individually and collectively, while resolving to recharge and reconnect. More information about Camp Evergreen 2024 is coming soon.
Media Contact
Dyan Duncan
Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
502.814.5439
dduncan@hosparus.org
