finally tonight we bring you the story of a unique and remarkable Camp here in New Jersey the comfort zone Camp brings together children parents and families whose lives have been touched by Suicide it's a safe place for grieving that makes it possible to heal while being surrounded by others who've shared in a similar life-changing loss Melissa Rose Cooper has the story I miss how funny he was and he was so smart I just missed the everyday activities with him just a few of the memories Sarah Ash keeps close to our hearts whenever she thinks of her father she was just 13 years old when he passed away after committing suicide I remember I was not really surprised he had been sick for a while and I guess it was always a fear that I had in the back of my mind that something would happen but I was still really upset and I think it took me a while to process all of the emotions that I had something Ash says she was able to do here at a comfort zone Camp the non-profit organization that helps children and their families learn how to cope after losing a loved one I was able to share my story for the first time about how my dad had died and just be with kids who understood and since 2015 the camp has been hosting a program for families grappling with suicide laws for three days campers get a chance to share their feelings taking part in various activities aimed at healing their pain and understanding their grief founder Lin Hughes says they decided to implement the program after noticing an increase in suicide loss and even within the Lost types to see the stigma associated with it and sometimes the shame and the guilt and the the oh well if the Woody Shoulda coulda's trying to put together the why and so there's so many unique nuances that we thought we needed to bring though that this lost type together according to the CDC suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the country data officials for every 11 minutes one person will die by Suicide with more than forty eight thousand taking their lives in 2021 roughly 12 million adults have seriously considered it with another 1.7 million making an attempt that's why Sandy Bruno says having a grief Outlet like comfort zone Camp is critical in the healing process we know that suicide will add an extra layer to the grief process some of the children will come in saying what did I do wrong what could I have done they come in with a lot of unanswered questions because of the loss and we help them to navigate some of those feelings and to express those emotions and hopefully learn to start to move through some of their concerns and their emotions Ash's mom knows firsthand how much of a difference it can make it was just a place that you didn't have to worry everybody knew didn't matter the details of your story they knew that you had had some kind of loss nobody asked you things like are you still thinking about that is that still a problem really you're still really worried about that now both mom and daughter are paying it forward now volunteering at the camp comfort zone is a bubble when you're here you're a family with all the kids all the volunteers that are here for that weekend and it doesn't stop you know after those 48 Hours when you leave you're still somewhat in that bubble you beat those bonds and I've made friends that have become my family who have been you know to my wedding I've been to their wedding we've celebrated sweet 16s graduations you know all of the major life events and just random Tuesday afternoons I have a community at comfort zone that has changed my life and it's my family life-changing experiences Empowering Families to Simply heal for NJ Spotlight news I'm Melissa Rose Cooper