Our project focuses on the delivery of our HUUG (Help Us Understand Grief) summer camp offered through Hope House Community Hospice. Our HUUG camp offers specialized support to children, ages 7 to 12, primarily in Newmarket/Aurora, who have lost a loved one or have a loved one battling a terminal illness. Our camp provides an opportunity for children to interact in a positive environment and participate in activities designed to support their grief journeys.

In Hope House’s HUUG summer camp, children have the opportunity to learn about, express, and understand their current grief. They learn a variety of skills that will help them with remembering a loved one or adapting to a change in a relationship because of a recent loss. The main benefits of the grief camp include learning coping skills that help children to understand and express their emotions, and building connections with others so participants are able to seek support when needed, while feeling that they are not alone in their experiences.

HUUG Camp also includes fun traditional camp activities such as art workshops, music, games and baking, along with a number of field trips to offsite locations, such as Legoland Discovery Centre, Tree Top Trekking and Museum visits. The difference from traditional camps is that our HUUG camp also helps children to work through their emotions and share them with peers who also lost, or are in the process of losing, a parent, sibling or loved one. HUUG Summer Camp is offered at no cost to participants.

For many Newmarket residents Hope House provides access, close to home, to specialized and unique hospice programs and supports, such as our HUUG summer camp. You can see how your funding will help support some of our community’s most vulnerable children and we want to thank you for that.