Mission

We know that life presents each of us with loss or losses at some time in our lives. Camp Janus helps to teach kids a basic life skill - Effectively Coping with Loss. Camp Janus does this by guiding the children through their present experience of losing a significant person in their lives, and providing them with the tools to transfer these skills to other losses they may face in their lives. Also, these children then become role models in the community for dealing with grief and loss. This is particularly crucial as our world faces individual losses such as death, community and Nation Wide losses as can be seen from the events of Sept. 11th.

We know that kids have the capacity to self-heal when something painful has occurred. We know that in order to do this, children must be provided with the necessary trained support in healing from a death or another loss. Camp Janus helps children to heal in the following 3 ways:

1. Camp Janus provides a caring and accepting atmosphere where children gain the courage to express and cope with their feelings of loss.
2. Camp Janus helps to foster relationships between kids who have experienced the death of a significant person in their life. Connections with other kids who are grieving helps to minimize feelings of aloneness that often accompany death, and helps to maximize support and mutual caring.
3. Camp Janus provides a skilled and trained staff who model from their own experience the courage necessary to cope with their losses and who are skilled in working with children in the helping professions.