Last Updated on May 9, 2024, 11:45 AM | Published: May 9, 2024
Calm Waters Center for Children and Families sends this information as posted below:
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Calm Waters Center for Children and Families, a nonprofit providing free grief support services to children and families on their grief journey in Oklahoma City Metro Area, announces the organization’s 7th annual Camp Courage, a three-day art camp for children who have experienced significant loss. The program will take place July 16 – 18 at the Calm Waters Center at 501 N Walker Ave, OKC, OK 73102.
Camp Courage serves children who have been affected by death, divorce, deployment, deportation, incarceration and foster/adoptive changes. Oklahoma children are disproportionately affected by loss when compared to national averages. The state ranks 2nd in the nation for divorce rates, 16th for bereaved children and 7th for suicide. Calm Waters hosts Camp Courage to serve all children who need support following a traumatic grief experience.
Camp Courage introduces children ages 6 – 12 to new art skills to help them learn authentic self expression after experiencing traumatic loss. With the help of local volunteer artists, Camp Courage participants will learn mediums such as painting, dancing, singing, poetry, drawing and video game design. By teaching children new arts skills, Calm Waters helps participants gain confidence through self-expression. Campers at Camp Courage get to sit with other kids who have experienced significant loss and learn they are not alone in their overwhelming emotions.
A 2020 study titled “Art Therapy With Grieving Children” by Darla Green showed that learning a new art skill after a loss significantly helps in the healing process. Grief and trauma need to be expressed in healthy ways to prevent trauma from becoming a lifelong burden.
Connecting children to each other and teaching a variety of art skills allows them to express their emotions and share their stories, reducing unhealthy behaviors and decreasing trauma symptoms. Using art as a coping tool provides an opportunity for curiosity and playfulness, serving as a relief from the stress of their experiences, according to the 2020 study.
“Camp Courage is our favorite week of the year,” said Erin Engelke, Calm Waters CEO. “It is a joy to get to watch kids who have felt so alone in their grief journeys connect with peers who understand what it’s like to miss someone who is gone. These kids get to express themselves in a judgment free zone and find creative outlets for their big emotions.”
To register a child for Camp Courage, caregivers will visit calmwaters.org/our-sevices/camp courage. Registration is $35 per child, and scholarships are available with application. Spots are limited and secured on a first-come-first-served basis.
To volunteer at Camp Courage as an artist or group leader, contact Calm Waters Program Director Bailey Maxey at [email protected]. Teens aged 15 to 18 are encouraged to volunteer as Junior Counselors. For those wishing to be part of Camp Courage as a sponsor, helping to provide funding for art supplies, camper snacks and curriculum development, contact Calm Waters Director of Development and Communications, Abby Dimond at [email protected].
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