Connect with other bereaved families and experience fall on the farm in Maine.

In Collaboration with:

Healing Nest Retreats bring together three families that have been impacted by childhood cancer and child loss, but do not incorporate the jam-packed schedule we offer at our larger family retreat in the summer. You’ll have more time to explore the local area and choose your own adventure.

Each family will have their own meticulously decorated bedroom and bathroom. We will offer optional activities to connect with each other and to heal within–such as yoga, meditation, parent massage, an individual family grief session, farm animals, and other fun activities.

Does my family qualify? For this retreat, we can accept 3 families that have lost a child to cancer or similar pediatric illness. You must live within the 6 New England states or NY or NJ to apply. If you have attended our Open to Healing, Forever Healing, or Caring for the Caring Retreats in the past, you still qualify to attend a Healing Nest Retreat. Ideally we hope to find three families that have met because of their child’s illness, but would like to connect more deeply by spending a weekend together.

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.

Note: This is a working farm with cats, a large dog, chickens, and goats. It is not recommended for families that have severe allergies or fears to animals.

Check out photos from a past retreat at Shilo Farm: 2023
More Shilo Farm Photos from their website

Check back on February 23, 2026 to apply.