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Summer at Aaron’s Place

Camp Mariposa-Aaron’s Place has now been serving children affected by a family member’s substance misuse for half a year. We could not have envisioned the effect we have seen on the campers in such a short time frame. A quick recap of what we’ve accomplished since we started: 

  • 22 campers, ages 9-13 have joined Camp Mariposa-Aaron’s Place
  • 16 graduate-level student mentors joined, offering additional support and fun for the campers
  • Weekends filled with swimming, hiking, archery, arts and crafts, and campfires; interwoven with therapeutic interventions like Signs of Suicide, Letters to Addiction, Zones of Regulation, and other activities designed to ease the burden substance misuse creates in a young mind.

Camp Mariposa- Aarons Place can and will change the trajectory of the children we are serving. and we’ve only just begun. To offer a sneak peek at the camper experience, we wanted to share our latest camp activity: communicating emotions through art.

The theme of our last session came from the 5th Of the 7 Cs: I can COMMUNICATE my feelings. We focused on busting myths about emotions and spoke on the value of communicating emotions. After discussing the power of colors on our emotions, we equipped the campers with paintings supplies and encouraged them to fill their canvas with colors that represented how they were feeling. We taught one painting method, but they were given free rein to create as they saw fit. As one camper admired her finished piece, she remarked, “I started out painting with the balloon like you, but then decided to do my own thing. I’m really proud of how it turned out!”  

To them, camp doesn’t last long enough. We love seeing how they connect and encourage each other as they talk about their commonalities and current struggles. They’re always excited to come back. This change is possible because of your support. Thank you.

Want to help us change the odds for future campers? Donate here

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