SUMMER HEALING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 59
people at different stages of their grief, and you say, ‘I can do
this, too. I can be stronger.’ Now we give that hope to the newer survivors.”
For the children, that sense of belonging – that diminishing feeling of loneliness – shapes their development and promotes a sense of internal peace and understanding.
“They’re becoming more empathetic,” DiNardo says of her
daughters, and every camper who has gone through the program. “When they’re experiencing a feeling that I can’t understand, they can talk to their friends who are feeling that same
way.”
And when a classmate’s father was killed in a bicycle accident, DiNardo recalls her daughter asking, “Can you call her
mother and tell her I’ll talk to her?”
Preslar, too, understands the importance of a network of
support in spite of – or perhaps because of – her initial rejection of it.
“When I was introduced to C.O.P.S., I was like, ‘What is this
crap? I don’t need support. I don’t need new friends – I just lost
my best friend.’ It was because I didn’t understand peer support.” Now she, DiNardo and countless other survivor spouses
and adult children trust wholly in the support that starts at
Kids Camp.
As both a professional and a survivor herself, Perry has become a champion of the program’s long-term benefits for survivor children, and the entire law enforcement community – a
community which long since has been hesitant to discuss its
internal mental health struggles.
“I think there is an increased awareness of the importance
of openly talking about difficult thoughts and feelings,” says
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ SEPTEMBER 2016
Mary DiNardo and her family flash a collective grin outside the Kids Camp
events bulletin board.
Perry. “We now know that teaching law enforcement officers
about vicarious trauma, encouraging them to talk about their
problems, promoting resiliency factors, creating a climate of
compassionate support and acknowledging the unique struggles that accompany this difficult line of work are critical to
ensuring the well-being of our men and women in blue.”
On the last day of camp, as an American flag ripples in the
wind above the campgrounds, each eye catches a glimpse of
the thin blue trail that whips back and forth between flashes of
red and white. “It’s an emotional week,” admits DiNardo, “but
you come back feeling full. (Our hearts are) happy, just being
around people who get it.” d