Our Story
How do you reach out to a child who has experienced the death of someone they love? How does an adult family member explore and cope with grief, yet still support a child's loss?
Stepping Stones of Hope provides an opportunity to answer these questions during many of our grief camps and programs.
Stepping Stones of Hope was founded in 1999, by Doctor Chip Finch. We had humble beginnings, at first only offering a single weekend camp, Camp Paz for Kids/Grown-Ups. Twenty years later, we offer dozens of programs and camps each year, touching thousands of lives. These programs reach out to both children and adults in separate, synergistic settings that have been designed to provide a nurturing, expressive, creative and fun environment for healing to transpire.
Death is a difficult concept for children to grasp. Kids often keep their emotions hidden, not knowing how to communicate their pain, and not wanting to add to an adult's grief burden. Weekend programs provide a safe place for these children to express themselves. Through art, music, role-playing, and a lot of talking and laughing, kids learn about death and dying. And, they learn how to begin to cope. At the same time nearby, adult family members are learning too, exploring their grief through journaling, music, art, self-care, relaxation and dialogue. And they discover ways they can best support the children who share their loss.
Check out this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=134uAgXioiU
