By Lauren Heminez, StarVista grant writer
At just 11 years old, Karina (not her real name) was struggling with life at home. As she began showing up late to class and having trouble at school, her school principal took notice and connected Karina to a counselor who could provide her with additional support.
Karina confided in her counselor about her feelings of loneliness and explained how “there’s always a lot of arguing and fighting, and no matter what I do, I can’t make it better.” In addition to listening to Karina and offering support, her counselor told her about an upcoming camp for kids with experiences just like hers, and soon after, she was on her way to her first day at Kids’ Kamp.
Kids’ Kamp is a free annual camp offered by StarVista’s Children’s Place program for children of families impacted by addiction. At Kids’ Kamp, Karina was able to meet other kids with feelings and experiences like hers.
In addition to fun outdoor activities, the camp teaches kids about addiction and helps them to build self-esteem, understand their feelings, and learn healthy coping mechanisms.
Karina spoke about how nice it felt to be at camp because “all the bad things at home and the drama are pushed away.” As camp came to an end, Karina said she left camp feeling supported and cared about, and like she wasn’t alone anymore.
With the help of StarVista’s Children’s Place program, children like Karina can access the support they need and develop skills to build happy, healthy lives. As the longest-running program in the country for children of addicted families, Children’s Place has provided more than 15,000 children in San Mateo County with counseling, education, prevention and alternative activities since its inception.
Children’s Place is a program of StarVista, a nonprofit organization that has served San Mateo County for 53 years, and is one of the 10 beneficiaries of The Almanac’s Holiday Fund. Driven by its mission to deliver high-impact services through counseling, skill development, and crisis prevention, StarVista helps more than 44,000 children, youth, adults and families in the county across 30 programs every year.
Other programs include: transitional housing and independent living skills for homeless and former foster youth; early childhood education and parent support groups; substance abuse treatment for youth with co-occurring mental health issues; the county’s only 24/7 crisis intervention and suicide prevention hotline; youth leadership programs; the San Mateo County Pride Center; and counseling in more than 40 countywide schools.
To learn more about StarVista, go to starvista.org or call 650-591-9623.
Donations to The Almanac’s Holiday Fund benefit StarVista and nine other nonprofits serving the local community. To donate, use the coupon on Page 12 or go to siliconvalleycf.org/almanac-holiday-fund.
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