Eluna begins with Erin Metcalf, a remarkable young woman who developed cancer when she was 15 years old. At that time, she met Karen Phelps Moyer, a child advocate, and former Major League Baseball pitcher, Jamie Moyer. Erin’s friendship inspired the Moyers to create The Moyer Foundation in 2000 to honor the compassionate young woman they knew.
The foundation started as a small nonprofit in Seattle with a broad mission to help children in distress and has since grown into a national network of camp programs and support services reaching thousands of children, teens, and families across the U.S. and Canada.
The early years of The Moyer Foundation focused on supporting local grassroots youth-serving nonprofits as well as multi-million-dollar commitments to some of Seattle’s largest life-saving institutions including Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and Swedish Medical Center. In May 2003, we created The Gregory Fund to honor a special young man, Gregory Chaya, who underwent a bone marrow transplant while being treated for leukemia. Both Gregory, and the fund which supports early cancer detection research at Fred Hutch, are doing well today.
In 2002, we created Camp Erin in honor of Erin and her family. Camp Erin has since become the largest free bereavement program, supporting thousands of children, teens, and families annually.
Seeing the success of the peer-to-peer support offered at Camp Erin, we launched Camp Mariposa in 2016, an addiction prevention and mentoring camp for kids affected by the substance use disorder of a family member. Through conversations with network partners, it became clear there were still gaps in support. From this discovery came the Eluna Resource Center, which extends the continuum of care offered at camp and provides personalized support, referrals, and resources.
As The Moyer Foundation entered its teen years, we began discussing the future of the organization and how it could adapt and thrive. We wanted an identity that reflected our core programs and those we serve. In 2018, as we celebrated our 18th birthday, The Moyer Foundation rebranded to Eluna. The word symbolizes moonlight; a guiding light to the youth and families facing the darkness of grief and addiction.
Beginning with the kindness of two individuals determined to make lives brighter in Seattle, Eluna now serves over 50 locations across the U.S. and Canada, acting as a funder and partner of incredible nonprofits who run the camps within our network. Through our unique blend of program creation, collaboration, and direct service, Eluna continues to transform lives with community-building camps, interpersonal connections, and a continuum of support.
