Camp I Believe | Documentary Video Production Louisville

"My name is Willow. I'm nine years old, and I'm here because my mom passed away." Produced for Camp I Believe in conjunction with Kindred Healthcare, a bereavement camp for children ages 7 to 17 funded through the Kindred Hospice Foundation, this documentary short lets campers, counselors, and alumni tell the story of a place where grieving kids learn they're not alone — and learn to have fun again.

Filmed on location in the uniquely named Happy, Texas. The land there is so flat and dry, but Camp I Believe is set in a beautiful, lush valley. Like someone took a giant ice cream scoop and scooped out a piece of earth just for this camp.

Filming children talking about the worst thing that's ever happened to them requires patience, gentleness, and total trust on set. We earned that trust, and the result is a film that captures what the camp calls the "Camp I Believe change" — kids arriving in a dark place and leaving with a little bit of light and a little bit of hope.

About This Project
Client: Kindred Hospice Foundation / Camp I Believe
Type: Documentary Short, Nonprofit Storytelling
Location: Camp I Believe - Happy, Texas
Services: Documentary production, sensitive-subject interviews, camp field production, editing

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Video Transcript:

My name is Willow. I'm nine years old, and I'm here because my mom passed away from lung cancer. Sometimes I miss her and I just start crying. She was funny, and she was pretty, and she was a really nice mom.

My name's Erica. I'm 13, and what brought me here to camp was my grandma. Every day I had off of school — after school, for Christmas, all the holidays — I always spent them with her. She was my best friend. She passed away November 22nd last year.

Camp I Believe is a bereavement camp for children ages seven to 17 that have experienced the death of a loved one. Camp is funded through the Kindred Hospice Foundation and the donations that come in from families and communities that we serve. We have campers who come who might have lost a brother, sister, friend, teacher, and they come from all across the country. It's an opportunity for them to come together, identify with other kids who've lost someone as well, really encouraging them to tell their story of loss.

Emotionally, you're asking these kids to talk about literally the worst thing that's ever happened to them. So we talk about everything from the physical feelings you feel, to the emotional feelings you feel, and the coping skills. A lot of them feel like they're all alone in this process, and this camp teaches them that they're not alone. We really teach the campers the importance of memorializing — really taking that moment and that opportunity to reflect on why we're here and who they lost.

When I came to camp, I was angry, and I didn't know that that was a normal emotion associated with grief. I thought I was grieving wrong. I left camp with tools to deal with that anger, and now as a young adult, I still carry those tools around. I experience new grief, but I still have those tools at my disposal to do life.

These kids right now are going through an experience where they're experiencing a community through grief in a way that is productive, that they might not have felt before. You come out with kids that are able to articulate their feelings for the first time, because you've given them the language to do so. As the course of the weekend goes, you all of a sudden see what I would call the Camp I Believe change — where they're bonding, they're really getting out there and getting wild and crazy and having fun. And really, that's the point of camp: to let these kids know that they're not alone, but also for them to have fun again. A lot of them have to grow up too soon.

It makes you realize that there is somebody out there that understands, and that you can talk to, because they've been through it. I know they're going through the same thing as me, and I want to get them to heal like me. I learned that you're not the only one that has been through it. There's other people that understand you, and you can just talk about it, and they'll help you through it.

What brings me back every year is being able to share my own personal story, and being able to have an impact on these kids' lives — kids that come in in a really dark place — and provide them with a little bit of light and a little bit of hope.