Grandfamilies 4: At camp, a place for kids to heal
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Bree Cosgrove wants children to know that their parents’ addiction isn’t their fault.
Cosgrove organizes Camp Mariposa, where kids can go swimming and hiking like other overnight camps. But here, in the shadow of Mount Monadnock in Southern New Hampshire, children ages 9 to 12 have the chance to discuss bigger issues in their lives that bind them together in a way few others would understand.
All campers have parents who are either struggling with an active addiction, or have fatally overdosed.
“There’s the learning portion, then there’s a clinician portion where they learn tools and have activities based on what they’re going through,” said Cosgrove, who organizes the camp on behalf of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua. “And more than anything, it’s a place for them to get away and just be a kid, and have that fun time.”