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"At Camp Braveheart my girls found something I couldn’t give them on my own: a place where every child understood what it means to lose someone special."
-Kristen Peterson Halus
Grateful Mom
The day my husband, Joe, died was the day our world stopped spinning. One moment we were having dinner as a family. Hours later, he was gone.
Our daughters, Addison and Parker, were just 8 and 6. Still so young. Still at the age when their dad was the center of everything. Suddenly, they’d lost their favorite playmate, storyteller, and sideline cheerleader.
And I had no idea how to help them make sense of something I couldn’t make sense of myself.
That’s when HopeHealth reached out to our family, and invited the girls to Camp BraveHeart — a special two-day grief support camp for grieving kids.
It was held at a place that already meant so much to us: the Hockomock Area YMCA where Joe had worked for years, and where he helped HopeHealth host Camp BraveHeart every summer. He loved those weekends — when HopeHealth’s team filled the Y with laughter, compassion, and hope. The same program he had once helped nurture was now here to help our daughters heal.
Just weeks after their dad’s funeral, Addison and Parker joined Camp BraveHeart for the first time. There, they found something I couldn’t give them on my own: a place where every child understood what it means to lose someone special.
As Addison said, “It makes it easier because you’re talking to people who get it.”
Parker told me, “Ever since I’ve been going to camp, it’s been making me better at sharing my feelings. It made me feel not so alone.”
HopeHealth’s grief experts and volunteers helped the kids open up — and also just be kids. The girls swam, sang, made crafts, and laughed. They even created keepsakes with hawk feathers, a tribute to Joe. He was always pointing out hawks in the sky, circling over the Y. Now they’ve become a sign that he’s still watching over us.
As a mom, it was such a relief to see that spark of joy and belonging. HopeHealth gave my daughters a space where grief didn’t make them feel different. It reminded all of us that healing can happen in moments of laughter and connection, too.
Now, whenever my girls have a hard day, we remind each other: Remember your friends from Camp BraveHeart? You’re not alone.
Your generosity makes this kind of healing possible for families like mine. HopeHealth offers Camp BraveHeart and other grief support programs free of charge, thanks entirely to donor support.
Thank you for helping grieving children find comfort, connection, and hope — the same hope that helped my girls begin to heal.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Kristen Peterson Halus
Grateful wife and mom
HopeHealth Hospice & Palliative
Tax Identification Number: 05-0192422
Prefer to mail your donation? Send it to:
1085 North Main Street
Providence, RI 02904
HopeHealth Hospice & Palliative Care is a community-based 501(c)(3) non-profit hospice, your donation is tax deductible as permitted by law.
Questions? Please call (401) 415-4206.