Freeplay, Camp Activities, Gerard's House

"This place works! Whoever invented this place knew what they were doing and I thank you!"

"The reason I came here is because I don't have to explain what death is. I can pick up from where I am and talk about it."

"You have really helped me. I feel so much better now even people at school notice. I used to be either really mean or really nice, but now I'm in the middle."

"Thank you for being with us."

"I look forward to coming here all week. I like it cause there’s no expectations on you. You can say anything you want and not look like a dork. It doesn’t matter what you look like. You can come here and be with all different kids who have been through the same thing. It’s, like… a really safe place."

"I want to thank everyone for being here and for caring about me and for helping me get through some hard times. I could talk about my mom here, and you’ve all had someone die, too, so you know how it feels."

"Gerard's House helped me with dealing with the loss of people that died in my life. I learned how to forgive myself. It taught me how to handle the guilt and sadness, all the emotions that came with this."

"At school, if I say anything about my dad, everybody talks about it, but here it’s safe to talk because of the privacy rule."

"It’s good here. It helps me with dealing with things better."

"Gerard's House has really helped me with my dad problem. I see now that I’m not the only kid in the world who has had a dad die. It’s great."

"I really like it that I feel safe here."

"Dear Gerard's House,
You really made me feel comfortable and not so sad when the people in my family died. Thank you."

"At Gerard's House I made new friends - every one of them had someone close to them pass away. I like lighting candles at the end of the meetings."

"You guys really helped me."

"You've been really good and I’m glad I have been here and I’m glad I can talk about who died in my family here."

"There are other kids in my class whose grandpa or grandma died and they need to come here, too."

"I have to come here. Even if I’m really sick, I have to come to group. If I don’t, I feel bad all week."

"I didn't want to come here at first, but I'm so glad I did. I can say how I feel and I found other kids that are feeling the same way I do. I love this group so much."

"I found out I wasn’t alone."

"The most important thing about Gerard's House is that you get to talk about all your feelings and you know nobody’s going to tease you. At school you might get teased if you talked about how you feel, or if you cried, but here you can say how you feel, and you can cry, and everyone is so caring, and so kind."

"I like Gerard’s House 'cause I made lots of new friends and it was really fun and ‘cause there’s a lot of fun things to do."

"What I like about Gerard's House is that you can have a really bad day, and at the end of the day, you come into this room, this warm, compassionate room, and you get to let it all out And you don’t have to be sad all the time. You can have fun, and it kind of cheers you up."

"At school, if you talked about someone who died, people might make fun of you. But here, you can talk about it, and you feel like everyone understands."

"Gerard's House is a wonderful, wonderful place! I think that without the kind and caring staff Gerard’s House wouldn’t be the same. Thank you."