Wildflower

Wildflower gives access to the life-changing experience of camp and enrichment opportunities to children who have lost a parent, Wildflower becomes an integral part of a powerful healing process which provides positive role models, a nurturing environment and a place for children to "feel normal" without the constant reminder of loss, along with much-needed respite for the single parent.

Providing access to summer camp is critical. Because summers are the most challenging time for single parent families; while parents work, children will have a safe, nurturing place to go. The experience of carefree summer days, the comfort of new friends and wonderful mentors, a break from the pain and stress at home is an invaluable experience for grieving children.

Wildflower also provides advocacy, tuition negotiation and financial support to make camp and enrichment opportunities a possibility, while offering support for parents. All of the families we serve lack the financial resources to provide these enriching experiences for their children. Our program’s unique approach increases children's resilience and emotional stability, opening long-term possibilities that may otherwise be lost. This, in turn, impacts academic success, creative potential, preparedness for college and beyond. Early intervention is critical to the family’s healing to offset the challenges caused by the trauma of parental loss. We help children and the widowed parent (indeed the whole family) to recover, rebuild and thrive.

Wildflower presently has a waiting list, which has been a persistent issue for 4 years. This is one clear indication of unmet need in the community. Wildflower specifically assesses that need through feedback from local bereavement programs and other partner programs, bereavement camps, feedback from Wildflower constituents and from area foundations such as the Foundation for MetroWest who recently reported that “single-parent families may experience more stress and economic strain than dual-parent households with two incomes. Children in these families can be at risk of poorer health and educational outcomes.” We know that this stress is experienced by bereaved families for many years after the loss occurs.

Wildflower specifically addresses the long-term impact of grief that can cause families to spiral downward and children to lose enrichment opportunities that would have been available to them if their parent had not died. Many of our parents are too overwhelmed to reach out for the very help that will enable their children to cope during this difficult time. They need an advocate who can respond to the broader needs of their family and provide concrete supports that enable them to strengthen their resilience in the face of adversity. Our services are greatly needed, as we are the only program of its kind in the Boston area and beyond.

Wildflower has been working in the grief and camp communities since 2004. We have established relationships with more than 150 camps. They partner with us to accept Wildflower children into their summer camps. Most camps offer significant tuition reductions or scholarships to our campers. All of these tuition negotiations are managed by Wildflower staff.

Another keystone of our program is the family support provided by our team of family liaisons, professional volunteers in the human services field who work with parents of our campers. They help them find best-fit camps for their children, provide emotional/logistical support and referrals to grief programs and other resources.

To address the unmet need of families on our waiting list, Wildflower is executing the most significant expansion of our organization since our founding in 2004. We are currently in the process of substantially increasing our capacity. We hired our first Executive Director as well as our first Development Director, and expanded the roles of our present staff. We are committed to growing the number of families we serve every year in keeping with financial capacity.

Wildflower is an established member of the grief and camping communities. We have an excellent reputation for high standards as they relate to both client and partner interaction. Because we have been working with our client base for close to 2 decades, we rely upon our hands-on experience and dedicated staff and volunteers to continue offering the highest level of services to our families and campers.

Wildflower has increased the number of families and campers we serve every year since our inception in 2004. At the same time, we have expanded programmatically, adding camp to college services and enhanced full-year support for our families.

Our long-term goals as identified through our Strategic Planning process include:

1) Expand our support services to grieving parents in the form of educational programs, valuable resources, and referrals.
2) Provide ongoing educational and emotional support from our family liaison team of volunteers.
3) Expand our college counseling support and college scholarships to our teens and financial aid information to parents.
4) Launch vocational counseling services for our parents who need to retool or start new careers to support their families.
5) Increase the diversity of our recipients and our staff and board to match the diversity of our families.

Wildflower is continually evaluating the effectiveness of our programs to ensure that we maintain the highest levels of quality and service. We look at our percentage of growth both in the number of campers, the value of their experiences and the outcomes for our families. Each family liaison interviews their parents to determine the success of the summer camp experience by determining whether the camp(s) was a good fit for the camper and a valuable experience for the parent.