Comfort Zone Camp

Our goal is to provide children with the coping skills they need to manage their grief in healthy ways and know they are not alone.

Our camp program was created to help children and youth develop resiliency and learn to better cope with their grief. With therapeutic group sessions in addition to arts and crafts, free time and so many songs and games, Comfort Zone’s program creates a safe place for sharing, for connecting with other people who understand loss, for reinforcing bonds with new friends and learning coping skills.

Programs offerings are designed to:
• Identify and customize programs based on the cultural and bereavement practices and needs of the community.
• Offer 1:1 mentorship and psycho-educational peer support groups to provide campers with uninterrupted and unconditional support throughout the entire program. Programs are facilitated by clinical therapists with an expertise in trauma and bereavement. A fun and dynamic environment is designed to engage each child and provide the opportunity to share their grief experience and to receive support and validation from a community of committed resources and peers. Comfort Zone operates from the perspective of “challenge by choice,” a best practice for children impacted by trauma and/or loss. Each child is able to personally own the pace and medium for which they share their experience with the community.
• Engage and build competence in the family and surrounding community on the topic of bereavement, with a specific focus on childhood bereavement.
• Collaborate with schools, agencies, organizations, and other community resources to ensure a continuum of care for the children and families served.

Comfort Zone’s model was developed by founder Lynne Hughes in Richmond, Virginia. Lynne lost both of her parents at a young age and created Comfort Zone as an adult to give grieving children a safe, fun place to connect and to know that they are not alone. From what started as camps at Lynne’s home, evolved into an organization that has served over 21,000 children at no cost to the families. For more than 21 years, Comfort Zone has worked to fill the gap in childhood bereavement care and has been uniquely positioned as a thought leader in the field.

Comfort Zone Cap was founded in 1999 in Richmond, VA. From what started as camps at Lynne’s home, evolved into an organization that has served over 21,000 children at no cost to the families. We currently serve children throughout the country always free of charge to the families who need our programs.

In response to the current pandemic, Comfort Zone has created a virtual program that provides a safe environment for grieving children to connect with their peers in spite of the social isolation brought on by the current health restrictions.