Camp Erin Grief Camp: What Families Need to Know Before Applying

What Is Camp Erin?

Camp Erin is the largest free bereavement camp program in the United States and Canada, serving children and teens ages 6 to 17 who have experienced the death of someone significant in their lives. Founded through a partnership between the Eluna Network and the Moyer Foundation, Camp Erin operates at more than 50 locations across North America, each run by a local hospice or bereavement organization with trained grief counselors on staff.

Every camp session blends traditional camp activities — swimming, campfires, arts and crafts, team games — with structured grief support. Campers participate in facilitated peer groups where they share their experiences, work through guided remembrance activities, and connect with other kids who understand what it means to lose someone. The grief programming is designed by clinical bereavement professionals, but the atmosphere feels like summer camp, not therapy.

There is no cost to attend. Camp Erin covers everything: meals, lodging, activities, and counseling. Families only need to arrange transportation to and from the camp site.

Who Is Eligible

Any child or teen between ages 6 and 17 who has experienced the death of someone close to them can apply. The loss doesn't need to be a parent — campers have lost siblings, grandparents, friends, aunts, uncles, and other attachment figures. There is no time requirement on how recently the death occurred. Some campers attend within months of a loss; others come years later when they're ready.

Camp Erin does not require a specific cause of death. Children grieving deaths from illness, accident, suicide, overdose, homicide, or any other circumstance are welcome. This matters because roughly 1,089 children are newly bereaved each day in the United States, and a growing share of those losses involve stigmatized causes that make seeking support harder for families.

Each local Camp Erin has its own application window, typically opening several months before the camp weekend. Applications are reviewed by clinical staff who assess readiness and match campers with appropriate peer groups.

What Happens at Camp

A typical Camp Erin session runs Friday evening through Sunday afternoon — roughly 48 hours. The schedule alternates between recreational activities and grief-focused programming.

Recreational activities look like any well-run summer camp: archery, fishing, canoeing, ropes courses, campfire songs, talent shows. These activities serve a clinical purpose — they rebuild a sense of normalcy and joy that bereaved children often feel guilty about reclaiming.

Grief-focused programming includes small peer groups of 6 to 8 campers, matched by age and sometimes by type of loss. A trained facilitator guides each group through activities like memory-sharing, letter writing to the person who died, creating memorial art projects, and discussing how grief shows up in their daily lives. Campers often describe these groups as the first time they've talked openly about their loss with peers who truly get it.

The luminaria ceremony on Saturday evening is the emotional centerpiece. Each camper decorates a paper bag lantern in memory of the person they lost. The bags line a path and are lit at dusk while campers share memories or sit in silence. This ritual gives children a structured, communal space to express grief — something most of them lack at school and at home.

How to Prepare Your Child

The most common concern from caregivers is whether their child is "ready." Clinical bereavement specialists at Camp Erin assess each applicant individually, but some general markers of readiness include the child's ability to spend a night away from home, willingness to talk about the person who died (even briefly), and interest in meeting other kids who have experienced loss.

Before the camp weekend, talk with your child about what to expect. Be honest: there will be fun activities and there will be times when counselors ask them to talk about the person who died. Normalize the full range of responses — some kids cry, some don't, some feel relieved, some feel homesick. All of it is fine.

Pack comfort items. A photo of the person who died, a stuffed animal, a blanket from home. Camp Erin encourages campers to bring personal mementos for the remembrance activities.

After camp, don't interrogate. Many children need days or weeks to process the experience. Let them share on their own timeline. You may notice shifts in how they talk about the death, new emotional vocabulary, or a quieter confidence about their grief. Some campers return year after year, deepening their peer connections and revisiting their grief as they mature.

When Camp Erin Isn't Enough

Camp Erin provides a powerful 48-hour intervention, but it is not ongoing therapy. If your child is showing persistent behavioral changes — chronic school refusal, sustained aggression, deep withdrawal, sleep disruption lasting months — a weekend camp supplements but doesn't replace professional grief counseling.

For the weeks and months between structured programs, families need daily tools: age-appropriate scripts for answering hard questions, behavior tracking to separate grief reactions from other issues, and step-by-step guidance through the administrative chaos that follows a death. The Children's Grief Activity & Workbook provides developmental frameworks for ages 2 through 18, behavioral tracking logs, and administrative checklists that keep families moving through probate, benefits claims, and school notifications while supporting their child's grief at home.

How to Find a Camp Near You

Visit the Eluna Network website and search by state or province. Each local camp listing includes its host organization, session dates, age range, and application link. If no Camp Erin location is near you, search for local bereavement camps through your state's hospice association or the National Alliance for Children's Grief directory — many communities run similar programs under different names.

Applications typically open three to four months before the camp date. Spots fill quickly, particularly at locations in major metro areas, so apply as soon as the window opens.