‘Wings of Hope’ Camp helps families process grief
The annual camp operated by Hospice Services of Lake County looks different during this COVID-19 year
“This is the 28th (annual) camp, It’s fun, but it’s very therapeutic. The bereavement counselors have created it based on national research models that help families with children to heal after they lose a family member through death.”
— Janine Smith- Citron, Director of Development for Hospice Services of Lake County
UPPER LAKE >> Hospice Services of Lake County promoted the Wings of Hope camp, this past weekend from October 9 to 11, reuniting in a local resort in Upper Lake families who lost their relatives. The staff took measures to make it possible, given all the requirements and the nature of therapeutic activities that typically take place. According the hospice staff, any families that have lost loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic have incredibly sad stories related to their losses, and the camp is a healing experience that can truly make a difference.
“This is the 28th (annual) camp, It’s fun, but it’s very therapeutic. The bereavement counselors have created it based on national research models that help families with children to heal after they lose a family member through death,” said Director of Development for Hospice Services of Lake County, Janine Smith- Citron.
Smit h- C it ron a dde d that the reason why it’s so important to have family camps is because, often times, when they’re in Lake County in particular, when there is a death in the family, it can be sudden and can really impact multiple generations. If the family doesn’t heal, or struggles with the healing process, it impacts their communication, their relationships, and the development of children,” she said.
“Hospice Services has been in the county for 41 years. We provide care for families and patients who have a terminal illness and have elected or it’s been determined that treatment is no longer an option. Our aim is to keep people comfortable as their life ends.”
The organization provides comfort care for hospice patients who qualify for those services by being terminally ill in approximately the last six months of life. They also support the families, both while their loved ones are patients and after they die. There is no charge to the patients or families for any of the services. The cost is reimbursed by Medicare and Medi- Cal.
“We have nurses, a medical director, social workers, home health aides, spiritual care — and it’s not necessarily religious (the spiritual care provider helps patients to connect with wherever they want to be spiritually at that time). We also have bereavement services. At that stage, it’s what we call anticipatory grief. You know that it is going to happen. People deal with grief differently. In our agency, we also, through the years, have recognized the importance of grief, as it pertains to health in our community — emotional health even physical health. The families that come to bereavement camp have not necessarily been cared by the hospice team. Their family member may have died from an accident, from a drug overdose, from suicide,” said Smith- Citron.
However, the hospice now faces significant financial challenges resulting from increased regulations and health care costs. They were once able to rely on thrift store revenues for the bereavement services, but that is no longer possible. They are funded entirely by contributions from community members, corporate gifts, fundraisers like Hike for Hospice and Dine out for Hospice, mail appeals, some thrift store revenue and small grants. “Our patient care has not stopped at all. We continue to go into homes and take care of patients that are dying and their families. Our hospice care is provided in
a home setting and that’s so people can die at home. We have taken all of our nurses and we’re all trained on the precautions to wear masks, glove up etc.”
According to Smith- Citron, the camp and all activities are structured in a way that there’s a lot of interaction, and a lot of people in one place, with an overnight component. “Not now. The families are going home for the night. They’re all doing these activities with social distancing, wearing masks… It’s been really challenging,” she said in reference to the current pandemic situation. The camps usually host 10 families at time. This year, the number had to be reduced to five because of COVID-19.
“We’ve got grants from the Redbud Health Care Foundation, the L a ke County Wine Alliance and the County of Lake Behavioral Health Program, besides private donations, be
cause sometimes we get donations from the community. We have three thrift stores that are amazing and support our hospice program and our bereavement program. It’s all because of the support from the community that we’re able to do the camp,” concluded Janine Smith- Citron.
The Bereavement Services Manager for Hospice Services, Kathleen Bradley, manages the grief counseling for the whole agency and has been working at the camp for six years. “Even having this separation and covering their faces with a mask, we have to really make sure everybody feels very safe and, at the same time, that they feel supported by the volunteers that stay with their group,” she said. Horse, dog and group therapies are the main activities at the camp. “They’re able to share their story, of their loved one, and how they passed away,” said Bradley. According the
manager, “some people are not ready, even though they should. They’re not ready to process. We just give them a safe space where they can. We invite them to.”
Susan Pearmain, a retired bank teller, lost her husband on July 31 of this year. She is one of the families visiting the Wings of Hope camp, having the company of her daughter, Samantha and her granddaughters, Christina and Kaylee Devens. “I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful the hospice has been, how much it helped me… They invited us out here and everything’s just been wonderful. I really wish there was no COVID, because it sure would have been nice to spend the night out there once, it’s such a pretty place. It’s just beautiful and everybody’s just so nice. There’s not one person here that’s not sweet and nice, and I’m really grateful and thankful,” she said.