Keys to Healing: Mind, Body, and Spirit
Project Jason Retreat
Omaha, NE August 13-15, 2010

Keys to Healing Retreat

The Project Jason Board of Directors is pleased to announce that the 2nd Keys to Healing Retreat will take place on August 13-15, 2010. The retreat is open to family members of missing persons whose cases are listed with law enforcement agencies in North America. The attendee needs to be age 18 or older. The main goals of the retreat are for family members to gain an understanding of the body's reaction to the trauma of missing a loved one, to recognize and understand the emotions which surface, and learn methods of coping. Family members will also benefit from meeting and networking with others who can relate to this unique tragedy. Classes offered during the retreat will cover all aspects of living in the "not knowing", with a focus on mental, spiritual, and physical healing.

(Be sure to scroll down and watch the video from the 2009 retreat.)

Your well-being is the most important element in what we do: support. The retreat, and all it offers, is the best life training offered anywhere for persons living with the ambiguous loss of a child or adult loved one.

We all know the difficulties we face in this situation. We know the emotions and the frustrations. None of us knows how long this journey will last, so it’s important that we do all that we do what we can to keep ourselves mentally, physically, and spiritually strong for the day we have our answers. These are the Keys to Healing, the keys to help you face each day without your missing loved one.

Sessions will be conducted by professional instructors, including a licensed counselor, personal trainer, dietician, missing person advocate, massage therapist, and a minister of faith. Attendees will learn how trauma affects the body, how to address that trauma, and how to recognize and handle emotions such as guilt, fear and anger that come into play. There will also be a session designed to answer the question of “How do I go on?”

We are honored with the return of our 2009 core instructor, Duane Bowers, LPC, the nation’s foremost traumatic loss therapist and educator. Among his many services to families dealing with grief is providing support to families of abducted, missing, exploited and murdered children through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and to families of missing persons of any age through Project Jason’s Healing Harbor. Bowers is the author of “Guiding Your Family Through Loss and Grief” and “A Child is Missing: Providing Support for Families of Missing Children.”

Duane Bowers

Class descriptions and pricing will be announced at a later date. Pricing will be determined by any grants, corporate or private sponsorships received prior to the opening of registration for the event in 2010. Project Jason's goal is to keep the price as low as possible, with the ultimate goal of being able to offer the retreat at no charge.

The Keys to Healing will again take place at the Swanson Center, a spacious, comfortable, and scenic retreat center near Omaha, NE. The entire center has been booked to ensure the most private and peaceful of experiences for the attendees.

Swanson Center

I have been blessed during the eight years since Jason’s disappearance to have had a good support system, faith for the journey, and training to gain an understand of what is happening inside me and how to handle a variety of situations as they come along. I have learned to laugh again and experience joy, while at the same time keeping the search for my son active. I could not possibly box up what I learned and send it to you, but I can give it to you in the Keys to Healing retreat.

2009 Keys to Healing

So, this is my gift to you from me and Project Jason. I hope you’ll be able be able to join us.

Kelly Jolkowski, Mother of Missing Jason Jolkowski
President and Founder,
Project Jason

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5609428/14723375

As you can see by watching the faces in this video, the 2009 retreat was a success. Now we need the public's help to provide this service to more families.

Keys to Healing video filmed by Christina Fontana, director of "Project Jason, A Voice for the Missing".
http://voiceforthemissing.com/

Information and class descriptions from the 2009 retreat: http://projectjason.org/forums/index.php?topic=2893.0

Special Recovered Honoree for 2010 Keys to Healing Retreat

For 2010 and beyond, the special honors will go one missing person and one recovered person whose families have demonstrated kind and generous spirits. They are among those who reach out to others, despite their own pain and tragedy, and set examples of how to face with dignity and grace what is likely the most difficult event in their lives.

One family selected for next year’s Keys to Healing Retreat 2010 exhibited selfless assistance to other families while their loved one was missing, and continues to do so since the young man was recovered.

Project Jason is pleased to announce the special recovered honoree for 2010 is the family of Christopher Michael Pierce.

Michael, as he is known by his family and friends, disappeared May 18, 2003 from Bossier City , LA. His body was recovered in December, 2007, and the person responsible for his death is in prison.

Christopher Michael Pierce
Christopher Michael Pierce

Judy Downes, grandmother of Michael, and her husband, Irish, will represent the family and share his story at the 2010 retreat.

The 2010 honored missing person's family will be selected from among 2010 attendees, and will be announced as the retreat date nears.

We feel this is such an important and needed venture. To our knowledge, there is no other open invitation retreat for families in the US.

Feel free to pass this message along to other families of the missing you know. We're very excited about this, and hope that you are too.

Join us for your keys to healing.