Shilo Farm – Eliot, ME
Come welcome fall with us! Put the thoughts of cancer behind you for a fun weekend in Maine.
We understand that when a child is diagnosed with cancer, the burden befalls the entire family. Parents, siblings, pets, and loved ones experience a great deal of stress, sadness, and pain. The seemingly endless treatments, surgeries and scans can leave the patient and family feeling anxious, vulnerable, even defeated. But we also know that the fight against cancer can also be an empowering one, and a way to build new relationships and community.
At Rett’s Roost, we hope to create a joyful, hopeful, empathetic space for families to relax, renew, and lament after months or years navigating a medical environment. We focus on mindful, positive living through healthy bodies, minds, and spirits. Our hope is to offer families facing the cancer of their child, ways to ease their anxieties for the future and find moments of joy and gratitude in their daily lives.
Three families will be invited to join this weekend retreat. Each family will have their own bedroom and bathroom. Meals will be provided. We will offer optional activities to connect with others and to heal within–such as art, music, yoga, games, and nature hunts.
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.
Does my family qualify? For this retreat, we can accept 3 families that have a child who has been through cancer treatment and currently is NED (no evidence of disease) or has stable tumors. We do not have medical staff onsite for children requiring frequent interventions. However, there is an emergency room within 15 minutes and Boston Children’s Hospital is 1.5 hrs away. You must live within the 6 New England states or NY or NJ to apply. We give out small travel stipends to those coming from over 2-hours away. This retreat is best suited for children between the ages of 5-15.
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.
Past Positively Healing Mini-retreats:
2019 Photos
2017 Photos
2015 Photos
General info about our retreats
Get in touch for more details or sign up to volunteer for this retreat!