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Our Program

Our programs facilitate safe spaces where kids can explore their grief, break the isolation they may feel with their non-grieving peers, and have a whole lot of fun. They have the opportunity to meet and bond with kids who share similar losses. Under the guidance of professional bereavement staff and caring volunteers, campers and group members have the opportunity to share stories and remember the one who died, while exploring skills that will help them in their journeys through grief.

Summer Camp

Support Groups

Background

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Summer Camp

Manitou Experience's one-week summer camp provides boys who have experienced a significant death-loss with a program that helps build confidence, encourage laughter and navigate their grief through friendship, teamwork, athletics, and the common bond of loss.

It is a safe environment where kids can explore their grief, break the isolation they may feel with their non-camp peers, and have a whole lot of fun. They have the opportunity to meet and connect with kids who are coping with similar challenges, while getting all of the benefits of the traditional summer camp experience. Through team sports, individual challenges and community living they learn about leadership, confidence and cooperation. Under the guidance of professional bereavement staff, campers have the opportunity to share stories and remember the one who died, while exploring skills that will help them after camp.

The program is designed to maximize each camper's time with his bunkmates to give him time to bond and build the trust that leads to open communication. Boys often build those bonds through sports and activities, which are a main component of the day. Campers can play their favorite games, such as basketball, soccer and baseball, as well as explore new activities, like rock climbing, waterskiing, and archery. A full day of fun and rewarding activity takes place in the beautiful Maine outdoors, surrounded by accepting friends, supportive counselors and fresh air.

A typical camp day begins with reveille at 7:30, followed by breakfast in the dining hall. After breakfast, the campers attend three instructional periods of their choice in a row. One of the periods each day will be an activity focused on different techniques in the bereavement toolkit, built to help the boys identify, express and understand their feelings. After lunch there is a rest period, when our social workers quickly check in with each bunk, and then a campwide activity, such as relay races or a hike up a nearby mountain. The camp comes together again during free swim, dinner, and an evening activity before retiring to their bunks for milk and cookies and lights out.

The program is designed to maximize each camper's time with the kids in his bunk to give him time to bond and build the trust that leads to open communication. Boys often build those bonds through sports and activities, which are a main component of the day. Campers can play their favorite games, such as basketball, soccer and baseball, as well as explore new activities, like rock climbing, waterskiing, and archery. A full day of fun and rewarding activity takes place in the beautiful Maine outdoors, surrounded by accepting friends, supportive counselors and fresh air.

Boys live in cabins of 10-12 campers and 3 counselors and are organized by age group. Each camper has his own drawers and personal space, and each cabin is equipped with bathrooms and private showers. Each has a table or area rug to foster a sense of community and bring the bunk together to bond and share stories. Each night at camp ends with cookies and milk before bed.

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Support Groups

Jeff's Place recognizes the journey of the bereaved. Jenny, our Director of Bereavement Services, grew up in MetroWest with her parents and two brothers. The eldest, Jeff, drowned just shy of his 18th birthday. Her family's story of loss, healing, integration and growth propelled Jenny into the field of Social Work and Bereavement Services. After many years at FRIENDS WAY, a respected, comprehensive children's bereavement center in Rhode Island she founded, Jenny is thrilled for the opportunity to offer similar support for the grieving children, teens and families in the MetroWest community.

Jeff's Place represents hope and the possibility of a revised story for one's self and family. It is a metaphor for the journey of which all our courageous participants will traverse in their own ways through the safety and comfort of each other and our remarkable, compassionate, skilled staff and volunteer facilitators.

Jeff's Place offers bimonthly open-ended peer support groups for children ages 3-19 and their caregivers who are coping with the death of a loved one. All groups are facilitated by professionally trained volunteers and monitored by a masters prepared clinician who completes intake evaluations on each family. Furthermore, the clinician develops curriculum for the group activities, supervises the volunteer facilitators, monitors the group activities, provides feedback to the facilitators and families, and provides appropriate community referrals. The ratio of child to facilitator is small, based on age and clinical needs. Prior to the arrival of the families, the facilitators meet with the clinician to discuss the new families (i.e. Who died? When? How? How is the family coping as a unit and individually) and review the group activities.

Every evening begins with a meal provided by Jeff's Place to be shared by the families and facilitators. This tradition promotes a comfortable and familiar atmosphere where families and facilitators can begin to connect with one another and build rapport. Families often state that mealtime is a particularly difficult time after the death of a loved one, and this provides an opportunity for families to join together in a supportive environment. After the meal, the families attend their individual groups. The groups consist of children, pre-teens and teens, with simultaneous adult groups. The rooms are designed and furnished for each age group. The groups may be further divided by type of loss (i.e. parent, sibling). Children's groups may engage in art, music or play to express themselves visually and keep their hands busy while they find their words. Our teen groups may express themselves more through memory sharing, feelings exploration and relationship discussion. Children are encouraged to participate and share at their own pace. If children become overwhelmed during a particular group, facilitators offer to meet with the child individually or provide a safe space to privately vent feelings. Simultaneously, we offer a peer support group for adults to discuss their own experiences, as well as the challenges of parenting grieving children and teens.

At the conclusion of the individual group sessions, all of the families and facilitators gather for a closing ritual, thereby enhancing the feelings of community and the connection. When the families have left, the facilitators meet with the clinician to discuss the issues of the evenings, share insights and concerns, and close out another small leg of the healing journey. If necessary, the clinician follows up with families and/or provides professional referrals.

There is no fee charged for participation in our programs. Jeff's Place is child-centered, family focused, community-based bereavement program and welcomes all families regardless of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. While all support groups for the MetroWest Boston area take place at Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland, our program is nondenominational and we are grateful for the generous donation of space so that we may meet the needs of the grieving children, teens and families within our community.

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Background

Manitou Experience is a non-profit camp operating on the grounds of Camp Manitou, a residential summer camp for boys, located in the Belgrade Lakes region of Maine. Camp Manitou was established in 1947 and continues to provide unique experiences and lifelong memories for boys. Manitou has an active and involved alumni network that credits the summer camp opportunity for providing them with the tools that enabled their personal growth and achievements.

Manitou Camps Foundation was established in November of 2007 to provide children with special circumstances the opportunity to benefit from the summer camp experience. Manitou Camps Foundation was founded by the owners and directors of Camp Manitou, Jon & Sara Deren and David Schiff. It has since developed into a team of Manitou alumni and friends that want to share their opportunities with children who need them the most. The first program funded by the Manitou Camps Foundation was Manitou Experience. The camp is staffed with a mostly volunteer all-star cast of Camp Manitou counselors, alumni and friends. The staff are trained and lead by counselors and social workers specializing in bereavement. Jeff's Place grew out of Manitou Experience and provides year-round support groups and services in MetroWest Boston for boys and girls, from preschool through high school, who are struggling with a significant death loss.