Spreading our branches wider

Since our humble beginnings, we have tailored our programs to meet the needs of our community, slowly growing year by year. Last year, we introduced our Family Journey Campout program, led more teen backpacking trips than ever before and led our first young adult backpacking trip. We added more day hikes and collaborated with the Seattle Children's Hospital Journey program to host our first hike in Spanish. 

This year, after hiring an additional staff member, we were able to serve 60% more people all while maintaining the same number of programs as last year. We are thrilled to wrap up the program season with a sense of spaciousness and gratitude for what we accomplished.like beholding a tree grown from a planted seed that is beginning to bear fruit from our many branches. Wild Grief and grieving families are sustained by you, our community of support. 

“It was helpful being able to talk to other mothers going through a very similar experience. I felt so alone I had no one to talk to except my counselor about stuff like this.” -Guardian at 2023 Family Journey Campout

Branching out to meet the need: Family Journey Campout 

Our Family Journey Campout is a three day camping trip that Wild Grief offers free of charge including food, supplies and gear. Surrounded by tall cedars in a secluded group camp in Lewis and Clark State Park, families are able to set aside the slog of day to day life and open up to peers about their loss. Each day the children adventure through the forest engaging in age-appropriate grief work and play while parents connect with each other about their experience of parenting grieving children while feeling the weight of the loss themselves. .  

Only in this program’s second year, Wild Grief decided to expand due to the overwhelming number of applicants and tripled Family Journey Campout participation! Sadly, we still had long waitlists for this program, so we know there is more to do. Like a tree that stretches its branches toward the light of the sun,our campout grew from four families to six, to eight, and this past September our fourth campout was able to serve thirteen families! With this growth we added a teen track to our camps alongside the “middles” and the “littles” groups. This growth testifies to the crucial need there is for local grief support for the whole family.

In this video youth from Family Journey Campout share how it has impacted them

“I don’t know what I was expecting about camp, but what I got was 1000 times more than anything that I expected.” - 2023 Family Camp Participant 

Alissa’s Family Journey  Story  - 

Alissa’s family first came to Wild Grief as participants in our Family Journey program. Later she came back to volunteer on our kitchen crew and then this September she became a grief guide!  She was kind enough to share some thoughts on her journey.  

“In the fall of 2021 my family started a journey. It was a journey filled with love as well as deep grief, and most importantly support. Wild Grief provided support for our family during a time when it often felt difficult to be seen or heard in our everyday lives. My children were able to share their feelings with other kids experiencing grief. At the same time we were able to connect with parents who really understood what it's like to manage your own grief on top of supporting children who are in it as well. Wild Grief had such a profound impact on my life that I returned a few years later to volunteer in the kitchen during a campout. My relationship grew deeper still when I became a guide. Supporting families during grief is an honor. One that I hope to continue for years to come.”  

-by  Alissa Fanning 

“I liked everything about the program. The setting was wonderful. The food was wonderful. All the counselors were fantastic. It was truly a blessing to be able to attend.” 2023 Family Camp Participant