Soaring Spirits is proud to serve both our widowed community and their dependent children through our once a year Camp Widow® Kids program held concurrently with our annual Camp Widow San Diego weekend.
Please note that the kids program is a separate program from our regular camp weekend. Camp Widow will be run with all the elements, energy and focus on widowed adults to which our organizational mission calls us.
Soaring Spirits’ Camp Widow Kids program creates the same peer atmosphere for children ages 5-17 that we provide for their parents who attend Camp Widow. Our kids program is focused on the power of narrative and the building of community. Over two days, we will be assisting young people who have experienced the death of a parent to tell the story of their grief experience in their own words. Throughout the weekend they will “build” their storytelling skills and create their own unique narrative that acknowledges the death of their parent, and also honors the love they will always have for their parent.
Each camp weekend has a unique theme which is woven through fun outings, team building games and experiences, time to honor their loved one, and most importantly the experience of being in a community of peers to create a memorable and meaningful weekend.
We love the opportunity to create a community of peers for the kids of our campers, and to offer them the ongoing opportunity to attend the Camp Widow Kids program year after year. Community matters!
Children who attend MUST be accompanied by a parent who is attending Camp Widow, and there is no additional fee for any child attending the Camp Widow Kids program.
Program Details
When: July 19 – 21, 2024 (Information on schedule coming in 2024)
Where: Marriott Marquis and Marina Hotel – 333 W Harbor Dr., San Diego, CA 92101
Who: Young people ages 5-17 who are accompanying a registered Camp Widow® camper.
What: Camp Widow Kids is a weekend long program designed to provide age-appropriate coping techniques and a peer community for children who have experienced the death of a parent.
Registration: Registration is open. You must be a currently registered Camp Widow San Diego camper before registering your child/ren for this program. Each child will need their own registration so please register each child separately, and there is no cost associated with registering your children for Camp Widow Kids.
Volunteers: We will be seeking young adults who have experienced the death of a parent to join our Camp Widow Kids Leadership Team. If you are interested in joining our volunteer team, fill out an application to join us by registering as a volunteer and our team will be in touch with you soon.
**Any person over the age of 18 who volunteers for our program will be required to participate in a Livescan screening.
Camp Widow® Kids Director
Meet Dr. Michael Rodriquez AKA Big Mike, named by the kids he has worked with over the past 30+ years.
Dr. Rodriquez heads up our Camp Widow Team as the Director of our kids programming. Dr. Rodriguez graduated from the California School of Professional Psychology with both a Master’s Degree and a Doctorate in marriage and family therapy. He earned licensure as both an MFT as well as a Clinical Psychologist.
On a personal note, Big Mike is the proud dad of Juliet and Portia and proud bonus dad of Dominique and Dante. He played football for Royal High and graduated in 1993. Mike attended Cal State Northridge and graduated with a degree in Urban Planning. During this time he was the youth director for many high school and junior high programs for four different youth programs in the California area (St Paschal’s, St Rose, St Julie’s and St Edwards). Mike coached high school football at Oak Park High School and served as the youth leader for Hospice of Conejo. Mike loves travel, and he is passionate about volunteering his time in the service of others.
Camp Widow® Kids Program Manager-TBD
Camp Widow® Kids Program Administrator
Meet Chris Montrose! Chris was widowed in 2012 after her husband, Don, died suddenly from a heart attack at age 37. Her daughter Dominique and son Dante were 4 and 1 at the time of his death. Since his death, they have all tried to fit as much life and adventure into their world as possible. Chris first attended Camp Widow in 2015, and Dominique and Dante have attended Camp Widow Kids since its beginning. All three found such incredible support at Camp that Chris started volunteering for Camp Widow and Soaring Spirits to try to give some of that same support to other widowed people and their families.
Chris has a Bachelor of Science in Business from California State University, Channel Islands. She runs a successful business in Ventura, CA. Along with her business, she is also a full-time mom and bonus mom to Dominique, Dante, Juliet, and Portia. Chris, Mike, and the kids love to travel the world and take as many trips as possible every year to explore new places, meet friends new and old, and soak up as much family time as possible.