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Siblings separated by foster care get a week together at summer camp

Camp To Belong in Belgrade offers a week of summer fun for siblings separated by foster care.

BELGRADE, Maine (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- A camp in Belgrade for siblings who don't get to see each other every day just wrapped up this month.

Along the shores of Salmon Lake, Emilienne and Madeline Bouchard get to spend an entire week with not just each other, but also with their younger brother and sister. An important bonding experience at Camp To Belong because the four siblings were separated when they went into foster care six years ago. Today they are lucky if they get to see each other once a month.

"Get to see them everyday and then suddenly we just weren't allowed to and camp, being here has allowed us to see each other all day, everyday for a whole week, which is way more than I ever thought we'd ever get when we were taken away from each other," said Emilienne Bouchard.

The 39 campers who attended all have an understanding of what the kids ages 8-18 around them are going through. Families who don't get to see each other every day.

"Here at camp to belong everybody has been through pretty much the same thing," said Madeline Bouchard. "They are all separated from their siblings, so we all just get along and understand each other very well."

Camp To Belong has locations all over the world, where more than 10,000 brothers and sisters have had the chance to spend a week together. Maine's Department of Health and Human Services pre-approves all of the siblings that come to the Maine camp that is in its 14th summer.

"They use their staff, their case workers, supervisors, the central office staff to help facilitate working with the kids prior to camp identifying if they want to come," said board chair Adrian Phair.

Sixteen year old Emilienne and thirteen year old Madeline are already thinking about coming back to Camp To Belong next year and the years after that. When they reach the age where they are to old to attend as campers, that won't stop them from making sure a week of fun for other foster kids continues.

"When I'm nineteen I definitely hope to be a councilor because camp to belong is my life," said Madeline. "I can't imagine life without it."

This year Camp To Belong was held at the New England Golf and Tennis Camp property in Belgrade.

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