Mission

To inspire HOPE, love and joy for grieving children and families through a free camp weekend, where they’ll connect and share with those who've also experienced the pain of loss and are committed to healing, together.

Core Values and Culture

Camp HOPE is a Non-Profit organization located in Central Wisconsin that serves all grieving children ages 5-18. Camp HOPE proudly welcomes all individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.

Vision

Camp HOPE is a weekend camp where children are brought together to work through the grieving process after a loved one dies. Fun is top priority and the kids learn that it’s okay to laugh and play - and that doing so is not disrespectful to the memory of the person who died. Through the weekend of fun, sharing their pain and supporting each other, the children are shown that their emotions are a normal part of grief, they are not alone, and at Camp HOPE, their pain is understood.

Camp HOPE Equity Statement

At Camp HOPE

We believe our volunteers should reflect the rich diversity of our state and are committed to ensuring our camp environment is a place where people feel they can belong. Everyone deserves respect, dignity, and self-determination. We embrace our differences as our strengths.

We recognize the role our personal prejudices/implicit bias play in perpetuating inequity - and we commit to hold one another accountable to continually evaluate our personal and organizational practices to combat injustice.

We believe Black lives matter and that systemic racism is real. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) will not be treated unfairly or harmfully by our camp counselors, and this behavior is not welcomed by anyone in our space. We validate the experiences of BIPOC communities as truths.

We believe that every community owes its existence and vitality to generations from around the world who contributed their hopes, dreams, and energy to making the history that led to this moment. At Lions Camp, we acknowledge that we stand on the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe, Menominee, and Sioux People - and we pay respects to their elders past and present.

We believe that love is love and that all people should be respected, valued, and affirmed inclusive of their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. We are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive environment for LGBTQIA+ youth and adults.

We believe that there is no one way to grieve - and that everyone should have access to the support they need to follow their own path. We all come to camp because we know and share the pain of loss no matter the cause, passage of time, relationship, or circumstances surrounding the death of a person’s loved one.

Equity Statement Definitions:

“Implicit bias” refers to a variety of automatic, nonconscious prejudices in which one group is favored over another group. People can be prejudiced and discriminate against others, even if they aren’t aware of their prejudice.(Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity)

#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. (Black Lives Matter at School)

Systemic Racism – When a racial group’s collective prejudice is backed by the power of legal authority and institutional control it is transformed into racism. Racism is a structure and a system, not an event. It can also be described as a system of advantage based on race where the advantages are white privilege. (What is Systemic Racism, by Karen E Quinones Miller)

People Of Color (BIPOC) refers to Black, Indigenous, and many other non-white people. (The BIPOC Project)

Land Acknowledgements

According to the Laurier Students’ Public Interest Research Group (LSPIRG), a land acknowledgement is “a formal statement that recognizes the unique and enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories.”

“For non-Indigenous communities, land acknowledgment is a powerful way of showing respect and honoring the Indigenous Peoples of the land on which we work and live. Acknowledgment is a simple way of resisting the erasure of Indigenous histories and working towards honoring and inviting the truth.” (UCDS Schools)

Ancestral Lands

According to the Wisconsin First Nations Native Land Map, Rosholt, WI is on the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe/Ojibwe, Menominee, and Sioux People.