Family HEART Camp is for anyone who would like to experience living in a compassionate, empathic community.. We offer a welcoming place to learn and practice Nonviolent Compassionate Communication (NVC) a beautiful, supportive environment.
Whatever your family looks like, you are welcome here. Sometimes entire families attend, sometimes one parent and a child attend. Other times a grandparent or other relative may bring a child.
HEART stands for: Harmony, Ease, Authenticity, Respect, Trust These are the important family values that we strive to live, at camp, in our families and in the wider world.
Nonviolent Communication (NVC), sometimes known as Compassionate Communication, is based on the idea that all human beings have the capacity for compassion and only resort to violence or behavior that harms others when they don't recognize more effective strategies for meeting their needs.
Developed by clinical psychologist, Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D. more than 40 years ago, NVC is both a communication process and a consciousness rooted in our natural state of compassion, NVC is based on the idea that all human beings have the capacity for compassion, and only resort to violence or behavior that harms others when they don't recognize more effective strategies for meeting their needs.
NVC has the potential to transform our personal lives, our families, and our world in ways that people find deeply satisfying. If you are new to NVC, our camps are a good way to learn and practice with those who have more experience. If you are more experienced, FHC offers you the support to deepen your integration of empathy and compassionate living in heart of community.
While the Program team of FHC provides a wide range of sessions in Nonviolent Communication to appeal to beginners and experienced practitioners, from experiential sessions to formal didactic offerings, Community Supported Programing (CSP) allows both staff and campers to contribute to the activities of the day.
Campers of all ages offer sessions, sharing their skills and passions with the community. These might range from catching slugs, yoga, music, art, exploring issues in our communities or a child led exploration of the forest.
Our camps are not affiliated with any religion. Kindness and compassion, often a part of many religions and spiritual practices, are values we have and support others in practicing at camp.
Together we explore the question "how do we live and learn together” through everything that happens at camp. Some of the things you might do at camp are make family agreements, take a walk in nature, participate in a restorative circle, play capture the flag, join in the NVC sessions, yoga, make sculpture in the woods, sing by the campfire, dye your t-shirt in a natural indigo vat, learn about slugs, or transform your enemy images...of slugs or others.
The exact cost will vary depending on which camp location you choose, though it always includes meals, lodging, and programming. Children under age 2 typically come to camp for free.
for camp-specific pricing, please visit our
