Camp HOPE Norfolk is the first summer camp and mentoring program in Virginia for children who have experienced primary or secondary abuse and trauma.
This groundbreaking camp, which offers a clinically-proven curriculum designed to help children overcome trauma to lead more hopeful lives, is being offered by the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office in collaboration with the Family Justice Center. The camp is held at Camp Silver Beach.
What makes Camp HOPE Norfolk special is the trauma-informed lens the program was developed from. At Camp HOPE Norfolk, we praise campers for the person that they are becoming; seeing their character for who they are and not what they have accomplished. From the beginning, the goal has been to create a year-round program where youth can feel safe, seen, heard, encouraged, and cared for. Camp HOPE Norfolk is composed of a week of camp, supported by year-round activities.
The year-round piece of the Camp HOPE Norfolk program is intended to create a safe and nurturing community for not only the youth involved, but their families as well. The events held throughout the year are varied, ranging from team building activities to college tours. We want to continue to expose children and teens to potential careers they never would have known about, STEAM projects, hobbies and interests, etc., while also giving them positive role models and friends.
“We are thrilled to bring this extraordinary experience to children who have experienced trauma they did not deserve,” Lt. Meryah Breeden. “By founding a Camp HOPE in our region, we are taking an important step toward giving kids back part of the childhoods they have lost to abuse and trauma. 
We are also giving them hope they can lead safer, healthier lives free of trauma and abuse in the future.”
Camp HOPE Norfolk is modeled after several other Camp HOPE programs which have launched throughout the United States in recent years. The first Camp HOPE opened in San Diego, Calif. in 2003. Clinical research has shown these camps work; giving children who attend a greater sense of optimism and resiliency. This unique camp offers children an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of nature and the joys of summer. Camp HOPE Norfolk kids will also have a unique component of understanding their trauma and helping them cope with it and overcome it in a very committed way with a curriculum that’s there to help them overcome their experiences.
Children who are eligible are screened through the Family Justice Center, and will attend Camp HOPE Norfolk for free through grants procured through the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office.
For more information please contact the Family Justice Center.