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PROVIDENCE,
R.I. – August, 2007... This August, Home & Hospice Care of Rhode
Island will sponsor its first Camp BraveHeart, a free bereavement
day camp for Rhode Island children five to 17 years old who have
experienced the death of a loved one. Research shows children rarely
receive bereavement intervention and are at much greater risk for
depression, suicide and substance abuse.
The
camp takes place 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursday & Friday, Aug. 23 and
24, at YMCA Camp Fuller in Wakefield, which is collaborating with
Home & Hospice Care to conduct the camp.
Anyone
interested must call 401-312-2363 before Aug. 15 to register. Transportation
may be arranged from pick-up and drop-off points.
Camp
BraveHeart will offer camp activities such as swimming, sailing,
archery, rock climbing, gardening, theatre, art and music therapy,
self-defense workshops and writers’ workshops conducted by authors
of children’s books on loss and grief. In addition, counselors will
provide grief and emotional support through discussions, opportunities
to memorialize lost loved ones and remembrance circles.
“Our
goal is to provide an appropriate emotional outlet to children who
have experienced the death of a loved one by offering them grief
support in an environment of fun recreational activities, and we’ll
help them understand that what they are experiencing, although painful,
is perfectly normal,” said Home & Hospice Care bereavement coordinator
Deanna Upchurch, who holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology
and founded the camp.
“With
two daughters who lost their father to leukemia,” she says. “I’ve
found through personal experience that the way these camps can help
children deal with loss is amazing. Children who experience the
loss of a loved one often feel alone in their grief, and two-thirds
of what we’re accomplishing with Camp
BraveHeart
is just bringing them together.”
Upchurch
conducted similar camps in southeastern Massachusetts
for seven years before joining
Home & Hospice Care this past February.
Camp
BraveHeart
has been made possible through
funding provided by YMCA Camp Fuller, Wakefield
, Valuna Restaurant, Saunderstown,
The Mary & Michael Schwartz Fund and The Woonsocket Rotary.
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Home
& Hospice Care of Rhode Island (HHCRI), a leader in hospice
and palliative care for over three decades, offers comprehensive,
medical, emotional and spiritual care for people facing life-challenging
illnesses. HHCRI is an independent, non-profit, Medicare and Medicaid
certified organization, fully licensed by the Rhode Island Department
of Health as a home care and hospice agency.
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