Eliana “Ellie” Stremmel was 10 years old when her mother died in December 2020 – four months after her maternal grandmother died.
During the next four years, two great-uncles, including one who was her piano teacher; her paternal grandmother; her great-grandparents and her cat, Wonder, all died.
“It was really tough,” Ellie, now 16, said. “As soon as I’d get over one passing, another person would pass.”
In fall 2024, for the first time, she spent a day with kids her age who understood.
“It helped me to realize I wasn’t alone,” she said.
Ellie participated in Kourage Kids Camp, a Carle Hospice camp for children ages 5 to 17 who have experienced the death of a loved one or friend.
That helped her process her grief. Ellie will be returning to Kourage Kids Camp for a third time this fall.
Carle Hospice has two camps for children experiencing grief
Carle Hospice has two one-day camps to help children and teens express their emotions in a safe environment among peers while also learning coping skills that will help them as they enter adulthood.
Kourage Kids Camp and Camp Healing Heart are open to any grieving child or teen, not only Carle Health patients. And both are free, thanks to donations to Carle Health Center for Philanthropy. A generous gift from Rick and Jeanene Stephens will fund Camp Healing Heart for five years. For more information, visit carle.org/giving.
Kourage Kids Camp, which began 27 years ago, is 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at Camp Manitoumi near Lowpoint. Volunteers are Carle Hospice team members, hospice volunteers, Bradley University social work students and other community volunteers.
Campers learn strategies and make friends
Ellie, of Canton, lived with multiple losses by seeking counseling and engaging in positive activities that reminded her of the loved one. The death of her cat, Wonder, was an unexpected blow. “He was my emotional support animal through my mom’s passing,” Ellie explained.
Even with counseling and positive activities, in late summer 2024, “I felt she needed something more,” her father, David Stremmel, said. She agreed to attend Kourage Kids Camp.
“I liked it when we shared what we went through,” Ellie recalled. “I was with other kids who also experienced loss. They were going through similar emotions.”
When she returned to camp last year, a camp counselor greeted her with a hug.
At Camp Healing Heart, Yousef and Mariam Saib Rasheed attended for the first time last year after their father died of cancer in 2021.
“We were with people who genuinely understood what we were saying and experiencing,” Mariam said.
“We learned there are different ways to grieve,” Yousef said. For example, you can talk about it or distract yourself with activities.
That helped them process their grief. They will be returning to camp this year.
Volunteers help to show campers ‘the light’
Jaime Parkinson, a Carle Health Home Health and Hospice IT analyst, and her daughter, Emma Parkinson, 22, a University of Illinois master’s student, volunteered at Camp Healing Heart two years ago and at Kourage Kids last year.
In April 2025, they lost a close family friend.
“It was easier to get the kids to open up when we explained that we’ve been in that position of losing a loved one,” Jaime said. “We got the kids to understand that it was OK for them to be sad, that they weren’t wrong for feeling angry.”
Helping children and teens to process their grief not only helps the campers. “I felt fulfilled,” Emma said.
“These camps have helped hundreds of people over the years,” Jaime said. “They are a part of Carle’s legacy. At Carle Health, we don’t just help people medically. We are there for families afterward too.
“We tell the campers, ‘There are dark days. At the end of it, you come out into the light.’”
Jack Solava, 22, and his brother, Joe, 20, are University of Illinois students who live in Urbana and have been Camp Health Heart volunteers since 2024.
“Our father passed away in March 2020,” Jack said. Unfortunately, camp didn’t happen that year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Four years later, they decided to be camp volunteers. “We want to help others going through the grieving process,” Jack said.
The Solava brothers hope that a lesson of their presence for campers is that they will survive their grief.
“This is not just facing the ugly,” Joe said. “It’s finding the good in life.”
“The kids open up,” Joe said. “You really get to see their authentic selves. It’s inspiring.
“There is so much good in the world. That’s proven at Camp Healing Heart.”
During the next four years, two great-uncles, including one who was her piano teacher; her paternal grandmother; her great-grandparents and her cat, Wonder, all died.
“It was really tough,” Ellie, now 16, said. “As soon as I’d get over one passing, another person would pass.”
In fall 2024, for the first time, she spent a day with kids her age who understood.
“It helped me to realize I wasn’t alone,” she said.
Ellie participated in Kourage Kids Camp, a Carle Hospice camp for children ages 5 to 17 who have experienced the death of a loved one or friend.
That helped her process her grief. Ellie will be returning to Kourage Kids Camp for a third time this fall.
Carle Hospice has two camps for children experiencing grief
Carle Hospice has two one-day camps to help children and teens express their emotions in a safe environment among peers while also learning coping skills that will help them as they enter adulthood.
Kourage Kids Camp and Camp Healing Heart are open to any grieving child or teen, not only Carle Health patients. And both are free, thanks to donations to Carle Health Center for Philanthropy. A generous gift from Rick and Jeanene Stephens will fund Camp Healing Heart for five years. For more information, visit carle.org/giving.
Kourage Kids Camp, which began 27 years ago, is 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at Camp Manitoumi near Lowpoint. Volunteers are Carle Hospice team members, hospice volunteers, Bradley University social work students and other community volunteers.
- To enroll a child or teen as a camper, use the registration link by Sept. 18.
- To apply to be a camp volunteer, use the volunteer application link by Aug. 28.
- To enroll a child or teen as a camper, use the registration link by Sept. 25.
- To apply to be a camp volunteer, use the volunteer application link by Sept. 11.
Campers learn strategies and make friends
Ellie, of Canton, lived with multiple losses by seeking counseling and engaging in positive activities that reminded her of the loved one. The death of her cat, Wonder, was an unexpected blow. “He was my emotional support animal through my mom’s passing,” Ellie explained.
Even with counseling and positive activities, in late summer 2024, “I felt she needed something more,” her father, David Stremmel, said. She agreed to attend Kourage Kids Camp.
“I liked it when we shared what we went through,” Ellie recalled. “I was with other kids who also experienced loss. They were going through similar emotions.”
When she returned to camp last year, a camp counselor greeted her with a hug.
At Camp Healing Heart, Yousef and Mariam Saib Rasheed attended for the first time last year after their father died of cancer in 2021.
“We were with people who genuinely understood what we were saying and experiencing,” Mariam said.
“We learned there are different ways to grieve,” Yousef said. For example, you can talk about it or distract yourself with activities.
That helped them process their grief. They will be returning to camp this year.
Volunteers help to show campers ‘the light’
Jaime Parkinson, a Carle Health Home Health and Hospice IT analyst, and her daughter, Emma Parkinson, 22, a University of Illinois master’s student, volunteered at Camp Healing Heart two years ago and at Kourage Kids last year.
In April 2025, they lost a close family friend.
“It was easier to get the kids to open up when we explained that we’ve been in that position of losing a loved one,” Jaime said. “We got the kids to understand that it was OK for them to be sad, that they weren’t wrong for feeling angry.”
Helping children and teens to process their grief not only helps the campers. “I felt fulfilled,” Emma said.
“These camps have helped hundreds of people over the years,” Jaime said. “They are a part of Carle’s legacy. At Carle Health, we don’t just help people medically. We are there for families afterward too.
“We tell the campers, ‘There are dark days. At the end of it, you come out into the light.’”
Jack Solava, 22, and his brother, Joe, 20, are University of Illinois students who live in Urbana and have been Camp Health Heart volunteers since 2024.
“Our father passed away in March 2020,” Jack said. Unfortunately, camp didn’t happen that year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Four years later, they decided to be camp volunteers. “We want to help others going through the grieving process,” Jack said.
The Solava brothers hope that a lesson of their presence for campers is that they will survive their grief.
“This is not just facing the ugly,” Joe said. “It’s finding the good in life.”
“The kids open up,” Joe said. “You really get to see their authentic selves. It’s inspiring.
“There is so much good in the world. That’s proven at Camp Healing Heart.”
Categories: Community
Tags: camp, grief, hospice, kids, philanthropy