Health First Foundation supports camps
WATCH: Amy Crocker’s three boys began coming to Bright Star, Hospice of Health First’s center for grieving kids and families, not long after they lost their father, William Brighton, Jr., in June, 2022.
‘We Grow Through What We Go Through’ Gets at Grief Through Kid-friendly Activities and Fun. Gifts to Health First Foundation support two such camps annually.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Amy Crocker’s three boys began coming to Bright Star, Hospice of Health First’s center for grieving kids and families, not long after they lost their father, William Brighton, Jr., in June, 2022.
“I didn’t even want to get out of bed,” Crocker recalled. “It was hard for me to talk to them about getting through it because I didn’t even want to at the time. I noticed they could use help with grieving, but I was grieving.”
She found Bright Star.
“Ever since that first visit, it’s like, they can’t wait to get to Bright Star. They love Bright Star. They’re all about it,” she said.
On the first visit, she dropped them off. On the second, she asked to see the activities rooms.
“That first time, I hadn’t even gone back to look, so the second time – because they were so excited – I’m like, ‘Can I see what you have back there?’”
There’s a colorful sharing room with a model electric locomotive where the children are encouraged to talk and open up. There’s an art studio with everything from paints and canvases to supplies for crafts.
In the back, there are a stage for acting, air hockey and arcade basketball and Skee-Ball, and a “hurricane room” where anyone can get their physical energy out amid padded walls and cushions in fun shapes.
Bright Star is hosting its semi-annual camp Saturday, April 27, at Gleason Park in Indian Harbour Beach. The camp runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. when campers will be joined by siblings and adult members of their families to work together to create a memorial of their loved one who has died.
To register, visit CampBrightStar2024.eventbrite.com. To find out more, call 321.434.7622.
“They get to play and have fun, but in every activity there is a therapeutic underpinning,” says Nicolle Conley, Bright Star’s Bereavement Coordinator.
“There is therapy. There is memorializing. There is remembering. There is telling the story of the person they lost – all of that is wrapped up in that day, and it sits with them. So there is a lot of healing that can happen between camps.”
The Bright Star Center for Grieving Children and Families, 1131 W. New Haven Ave. in West Melbourne, is a place for teens and children (beginning at 5 years) who have experienced the loss of a loved one. This specialized grief support program meets twice monthly for 90 minutes, empowering young people to thrive after loss through emotional support, learning and creative play. (Adults are required to participate in a guardian group while children’s groups meet.)
At each camp, kids go home with a physical creation that they’ve poured memories into, along with a t-shirt, bag, book, photo booth digital pictures and more.
“We hope that they have a new way to remember their person. Because kids forget, right? They say, ‘I don’t really remember what his voice sounded like. His smile, the way he walked.’ So the things they create at camp they take home, and they’re representations of their fun day of activities and new ways to remember and continue to love their person.”
The summer camp can be an introduction to further support in regular programs. (Parents and children who have not previously attended programs at the center are welcome!)
Two years on, Amy Crocker’s boys “still love to come to Bright Star,” and now, as veterans, they can pay the benefit forward.
“They ask if they can help other kids that have just started their journey and show them that it will be okay.”
All Bright Star programs, including this camp, are offered at no cost to our community because of gifts made to the Health First Foundation. Because of philanthropic support, grieving children have the activities and supplies locally that help them process their grief, all led by the dedicated staff and volunteers at the Bright Star Center for Grieving Children and Families. To learn more about supporting Health First’s not-for-profit mission, visit HF.org/Give.
To register, visit CampBrightStar2024.eventbrite.com. To find out more about Health First’s Bright Star program for grieving children and teens, visit HF.org/Brightstar, or call 321.434.7622.
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