Our vision at Rett’s Roost is to cultivate a community of families pursuing a path of healing through shared experiences of connection, joy, and reflection. The goal of this retreat is to bring together a group that understands the plight of being a bereaved parent and to provide them with a toolbox of healing modalities to ease their emotional burden.

Our hope is that you leave feeling like you took some time to honor your child, while at the same time taking care of your broken heart.

This in-person retreat runs from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon at a beautiful farmstead in Saco, ME. All lodging, food, and activities once you arrive will be paid for by Rett’s Roost. Each couple will have their own bedroom (some single moms may have to share a large room) and bathrooms are shared. Rett’s Roost staff and volunteers will be providing delicious, healthy meals and snacks. Grief support, yoga, art, massage, and sound therapy will be offered. Most importantly, you’ll have time to connect over your loss.

Parents will meet on zoom ahead of the retreat to share their children’s stories. After the retreat, this cohort of parents has the opportunity to attend a year of monthly online grief support sessions together. We hope that strong bonds will be developed between parents through this year-long experience.

Rett’s Roost retreats are nondenominational. We act, and ask our participants to act, without discriminating against any person or organization because of their race, age, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or religious belief.

Do we qualify? To attend this retreat, your child must have died of pediatric cancer or a similar childhood-related illness. There is no restriction for time from your loss or where you live.

Last year’s agenda: 2025

Check out photo albums from previous retreats at River Winds: 2023, 2024, 2025