The 27^th annual Ohio’s Hospice Camp HOCO was held in June at the St. Peter and Paul Retreat Center in Newark. It was the first time in 5 years that the camp has been fully operational, but the memories made were something to celebrate. 

Camp HOCO is a four-day camp for children, ages 6-12, who have experienced a loss. Professional grief counselors and trained volunteers are on hand to lead activities that include arts and crafts, hiking and music.  

In addition to traditional camp activities, Ohio’s Hospice Pathways of Hope^SMbereavement counseling staff provides grief support activities so children can learn how to manage their grief. This year’s theme was “Remember Me, Celebrating Our Memories.” 

Camp HOCO gives children the opportunity to see they are not alone according to Maria Johnson, manager of patient and family support services at Ohio’s Hospice in Newark. 

“We do lots of activities and projects related to grief along with psychoeducation on emotions, coping skills and finding support,” she said.  

The impact of Camp HOCO extends far beyond the four days spent at the retreat center. Children leave the camp with newfound friendships, a sense of belonging, and the knowledge that they are not alone in their grief. They carry with them the tools and resources to continue their healing journey, knowing that they have a supportive community to turn to whenever they need it. 

“In 2020, we were all prepped and ready for camp, but our location closed a few weeks before, due to Covid,” Johnson said. “So, we had no camp in 20 or 21. We tried to have one in 22 but ended up with a staff member that tested positive for Covid, so we had to cancel most of that also.” 

She added that last year’s camp was postponed because there was a need to recruit and train new staff, so this was the first year since 2019 to have a full camp again.   

“Our old location had also been closed until recently, so we reached out to them for camp this year and they were able to accommodate us again,” Johnson said. “Camp went very well, even though we were a little rusty.  We had lots of new volunteers this year along with some old timers and they all pitched in and worked well together. This year our camp ran 4 days with staff training on Monday and camp Tuesday through Friday.”   

The camp is open to the community and available to campers at no cost, thanks to generous support from the community.