Mini-Retreat at the Heartquarters

A weekend to connect with other grieving families like yours, honoring the children we lost too soon.

Presented by:

At Rett’s Roost, we show people ways to experience moments of joy & gratitude amidst their grief. While we cannot hope to relieve your grief in just a few days, our goal is to change your course toward healing even if you cannot yet see how that might be possible. We hope you leave feeling less alone in this lonely world of child loss, with tools in your back pocket and friends to call on for when you enter those dark spaces of grief.

The retreat takes place at our Heartquarters in Ogunquit, ME and runs from Friday through Sunday afternoon.Prior to the retreat, parents will meet on zoom for 2-3 story-sharing, grief-work sessions in April and May. This allows people to feel more comfortable coming together in-person in the summer already having met online.

At the retreat, we offer many therapeutic, supportive activities to connect with others and heal within. The agenda will include grief support, yoga, art, and music for both parents and children. Also, get a massage, energy treatment, meet with a medium, and have professional family portraits taken.

Each family will have their own bedroom. Bathrooms may be shared (please request a private bathroom if needed). There is a shared hot tub available on-site. Rett’s Roost staff will be providing delicious, healthy meals. We’ll be offering grief support, yoga, art, and music/sound therapy. Also, get a massage, energy treatment, and professional portraits taken. The beach is just a mile away and we will visit it a couple times. We give out small travel stipends to attending families.

Does my family qualify?  For this retreat, we will accept 4 families that have lost a child to cancer or, in some cases, other chronic pediatric illnesses. There is no restriction on the amount of time since your child’s death. Our retreats are best suited for children between the ages of 4-15, however, we do welcome families with older and younger children. Unfortunately, we cannot accept parents that lost their only child or only have surviving children older than 18 at this retreat.

DEI:  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.

COVID-19: Currently we are requiring all parents and other adults (volunteers, therapists) participating in this retreat to be vaccinated for COVID (at least 2 shots). We will be asking each attendee over 3 years old to take a rapid antigen test on arrival and a PCR test before the event if there has been a potential exposure.

Our presenting sponsor for this retreat is The Parmenter Foundation. Parmenter funds organizations that serve people experiencing loss residing in the Metrowest region, or adjacent towns, in Massachusetts.

Check out photos from last year’s Bereavement Retreat at the Heartquarters:
OGT – Sep ’22 – Bereaved

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General info about our retreats

Get in touch for more details or sign up to volunteer for this retreat!