Signature Programs
HeArt Talks™ - for pre/k - elementary-age campers
This program was designed in 1995 by Mimi Farrelly-Hansen, a licensed and experienced child art therapist, former ECE school teacher, and parent of a daughter adopted from India. Farrelly-Hansen created a sequence of age-appropriate art interventions that would facilitate conversation among children about their experiences of being adopted. These art activities, developed for each age group of children and youth, were designed with an understanding of the developmental stages of adoption awareness. HeArt Talks™ is conducted by licensed art therapists with a focus on the following goals:
- Provide a safe place for transculturally and transracially adopted children and siblings to talk and make art.
- Reduce social isolation and promote empowerment via problem solving and art making.
- Foster positive self-esteem through affirming cultural roots, and completing age-appropriate art tasks.
The Coordinator of our HeART Talks program is Gracie Bueno, a registered psychotherapist in the state of Colorado who received her Masters in Mental Clinical Health Counseling with an emphasis in Transpersonal Art Therapy from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Gracie has over 13 years of experience working with children, adolescents, families, and individuals addressing a variety of issues including foster care, adoption, attachment, transracial and transcultural parenting and family development, and healing from trauma. Gracie is bilingual in English and Spanish and incorporates Art Therapy in her work from a trauma-informed lens.
We See You - for pre/k - elementary-age campers
At our 2022 African/Caribbean Heritage Camp (ACHC), we piloted a new program for Kindergarten through 5th grade, focused on building a positive racial/cultural identity and creating space for honest conversations about race and culture through interactive, age-appropriate activities. We partnered with Dr. Apryl Alexander, former Clinical Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver, Dr. Asia Lyons of Lyons Educational Consulting, and Dr. Chaitra-Wirta Leiker, licensed psychologist and an adoptee of color to create this program which is customized for our campers.
At Heritage Camps, we believe that every child’s journey is unique and deserves to be celebrated; our programs provide a vibrant canvas where young hearts can explore their identities through creative play and connection. The age appropriate We See You activities inspire curiosity and self-expression, so that campers from all backgrounds will discover the beauty of their stories while building resilience and camaraderie with peers who share similar experiences. We strive to create a joyful atmosphere where laughter and learning intertwine, allowing each child to step into their power and embrace their cultural heritage with pride. By fostering lasting friendships in a nurturing environment, we empower the next generation to shine brightly in their truth and share their vibrant voices with the world.
Who I Am™ - for middle school campers
Who I Am™ is a program focused on empowering middle school students through positive discussions about identity, adoption, and living in a bi-cultural world. This program helps adolescents explore their sense of self and navigate group dynamics, including addressing bullying. Participants learn healthy coping skills to boost self-confidence and authenticity. Each student creates a personal symbol as a reminder of their growth and belonging within the supportive community of the program.
Facilitator Taryn Johnson, MA, LPC, Who I Am™ Facilitator - has been a Cultural Community Volunteer and Counselor for HCAF since 2000 (originally for Filipino Heritage Camp.) Taryn received her MA in Counseling at Regis University specializing in refugee/immigrant children; as well as children who are adopted or fostered. She is also a certified Child and Family Psychotherapist. “HCAF inspired my education and career!”
Stand Up and Speak Out! - for middle school campers
At Heritage Camps, we believe in the power of youth to shape their futures and inspire change within their communities. This workshop offers a nurturing environment where middle school campers can explore their identities and cultivate their voices, learning that their thoughts and feelings matter. Through engaging activities that encourage self-reflection and collaboration, our middle schoolers will enhance their ability to communicate with confidence while discovering the importance of empathy and understanding in advocacy. By fostering a supportive network, we empower our campers to stand tall, speak out, and navigate their unique journeys with resilience and purpose, all while creating lasting friendships and a sense of belonging.
This program was created and is facilitated by Yoselin Corrales, our Director of Operations and Programming.
Click to see how can you, as parent, can continue this important conversation at home.
Be familiar with various types of aggression — even if your pre-teen is not bullied directly, are they facing relational aggression where “frenemies” make passive comments? Or where even good friends make ignorant statements? Know how to support your child in further developing good coping strategies. Modeling your own coping skills will also be monumental in their ability to apply their own.
In Who I Am™, they will be presented with the following information:
Coping Skills can be broken into six categories. Not all coping strategies are appropriate for all situations, which is why it is important to build a large repertoire.
- Distraction; i.e. texting friends, listening to music, playing games.
Distractions give your heart and mind a temporary break. They can help provide immediate relief. Distractions do not resolve any issues and usually can’t be used for too long. - Grounding: using your senses to become mindful and present-moment focused.
Grounding helps us slow down and reduces the physiological effects of high emotions, particularly anxiety. Grounding does not work if the present moment feels threatening. - Emotional Release: i.e. crying, sublimating anger in a healthy way.
Emotional release allows the pressure of overwhelming emotions to dissipate. However, it is not always appropriate in all situations. - Self Care: i.e. relaxation, cook a special meal, giving yourself a small treat.
Self Care is where we show ourselves love, support, and caring. It affirms that we are okay and we are worthy. Sometimes self care can feel difficult to do or feel superficial (but it’s not). - Positive Thinking: replacing negative thoughts with positive alternatives.
Positive Thinking is a form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, where negative thoughts are challenged. This can help change long-term negative thinking habits and increase logical processing of events. - Altruism: accessing your higher self.
Being kind to others reminds us that everyone has value, including ourselves.
Courageous Conversations™ - for high school campers
Courageous Conversations™ was developed by Fran Campbell of the Filipino-American community, specifically for Heritage Camps of Adoptive Families. Courageous Conversations™ is a unique set of activities for high school teens that seek to assist them in the development of a positive bicultural identity. The need to establish a bicultural identity emerges most strongly for adopted youth during adolescence and young adulthood.
At Heritage Camps, we deeply honor the journey of each adoptee, recognizing that their story is woven from threads of past and present, culture and community. Our programs serve as a canvas for self-exploration, inviting campers to paint their own identity with vibrant strokes of heritage and personal experience. Through shared understanding, meaningful dialogue, and creative expression, we cultivate a space where young minds can forge connections that transcend borders, fostering a sense of belonging that empowers them to embrace their unique narratives. Together, we celebrate the beauty of diversity, guiding each child to shine bright in their truth as they discover the strength that lies within their multi-faceted identity.
Why is Courageous Conversations™ important?
In November of 2009, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute published a groundbreaking study titled, “Beyond Culture Camp: Promoting Healthy Identity formation in Adoption.” Several recommendations from this report are worth noting by parents, counselors and educators, but we agree with that there is a need for not only strategies that promote cultural socialization, but experiences that give adoptees additional support on “racial and cultural identification, and comfort”.
Adoptees often share that they feel different: not like the people they have met from their birth country, and not like people they know who were born in the United States. We believe that the task of parents and educators is to help adoptees explore how they are uniquely from two cultures. This bicultural identity needs to be defined by each of them with support from other adoptees, parents, and other family members during their Heritage Camp experience.
At each camp, members of the appropriate cultural/racial community lead these workshops with Fran at the helm, to ask and answer culturally specific questions, find out what makes a culture what it is, talk about how and where our adoptees can fit in, and role play situations they may encounter as they leave the relative safety of home and community to go to college, or into the work environment, etc.
This is Me™ has been a valuable way for our cultural community members to interact with the high school campers that is honest and meaningful, sharing their own experiences growing up in another culture and trying to fit in. There are many similarities that have nothing to do with being adopted, but simply with being of another race or culture than the majority.
Check out Asian Avenue's feature story on Heritage Camps for Adoptive Families' This is Me™ program to learn more about impacts on adoptees!
Cultivating Conscientious Parenting - for adult campers
For nearly 30 years, we have offered valuable standard Signature Programs across all camps for our campers from Preschool through High School. Now, it’s their parents turn! Heritage Camps is delighted to share that beginning in 2024, we will be offering an Adult Signature Program at all of our camps!
At Heritage Camps, we believe that the journey of understanding and embracing one’s identity continues beyond childhood, and our new Adult Signature Program, Cultivating Conscience Parenting is designed to empower parents on this shared path of growth. As we explore the intricacies of cultural humility and the importance of fostering empathy, this transformative experience invites parents to engage in meaningful dialogue about their own identities while learning how to support their children as they engage in a diverse and inclusive society. Culture is many things: race, ethnicity, the culture of adoption, queer and LGBTQIA+ culture, and plenty of others. Together, we will create a space of connection and reflection, where the wisdom of experience meets the curiosity of the next generation, ultimately nurturing a community where every voice is celebrated, and every story matters.
This program was developed by and is facilitated by Heritage Camps staff: Marne Gulley and Yoselin Corrales.