Real Estate Photographer in Marble Falls, TX

Experience Camps is coming to Marble Falls, also offering services to Hill Country flood survivors

MARBLE FALLS, Texas – Losing a loved one can derail a child’s life, and it often causes them to miss out on everyday childhood experiences.

That’s why Experience Camps was created 15 years ago. It offers week-long summer camps across the country for kids who are dealing with grief.

The youngest campers are eight years old, and as kids get older, they begin to mentor the younger campers. It’s a full circle of giving, love, and emotion.

To the excitement of many Texas families, the nonprofit is opening its very first camp in the state in summer 2026.

There will be a week-long camp in August for the kids, and a weekend camp in May for the whole family.

KSAT got a tour of the campgrounds in Marble Falls, where many lives will be changed next summer.

Take it from Lia and Isaac Gracia, who lost their dad six years ago.

Their mother quickly registered them for Experience Camps, and by the next year, they were at camp building resilience, confidence and truly honing in on their feelings.

“Before I started camp, I was nervous. I didn’t want to try anything, I didn’t want to do anything,” 14-year-old Lia said. “But after I went to camp, it opened me up to new things that I wasn’t able to do.”

“I feel like I was super kept to myself before camp, but when I went to camp, I was wanting to go out a lot,” 12-year-old Isaac said.

It’s all the fun of a regular summer camp, but with freedom to grieve, talk about loss, meet with therapists daily, and make lifelong friends.

“One time, they allowed us to grab glass plates, put them in a Ziplock bag, and like throw them, and you’re able to actually get your feelings out. That was amazing!” Lia said. “Then you can paint on a canvas your story. Different colors means different feelings. It’s so amazing to do all these things and actually have ways to get it out.”

The siblings said it is an immediate relief each summer when they get to camp and immediately feel understood.

“It’s pretty amazing to have all these people surrounding you and definitely to have all the comfort around,” Isaac said.

It’s not just the kids who understand grief; it’s the counselors, too, who are typically adults between the ages of 25 and 35.

“I’m a volunteer counselor because I lost my dad 15 years ago. Another co-counselor I have lost her brother when she was young,” said Lauren Zima who is now an Experience Camps board member.

Zima is a former host on Entertainment Tonight and when she began opening up about her grief on social media, a representative from Experience Camps contacted her and offered her volunteer opportunities.

She was so inspired by the camp mission that she became a board member and is now helping open Experience Camps’ first-ever Texas location.

“We partner with existing for-profit camps like the wonderful Camp Champions who’s helping us out here in Marble Falls. And we come in at the end of their for-profits summer, and we use their facilities before they shut down for the summer,” Zima said.

She said kids in Texas had been asking for a local location for years.

“We’ve had a waitlist of kids wanting to use our programs in Texas. Actually, some of the kids who are siblings of the Uvalde victims had been using the online resources,” Zima said.

KSAT got to tag along on Zima’s first tour of their new location with Camp Champions Executive Director Eric Hillis.

“I’m actually really looking forward to building the schedule with y’all!” Hillis said as he pointed out art buildings, basketball courts, a giant pool, rock climbing, obstacle courses and the calm, beautiful lake.

Hillis and Zima began discussing which activities the Experience Camps kids might enjoy doing this summer.

“We have, I would definitely say, do kayaking. We’ll have paddleboards. The bigger boats, they all have to work to paddle together in the same direction,” Hillis said.

Those are all things Zima has seen become positive metaphors for kids dealing with loss.

“The physical activities build the strength back in these kids. Then they get this hour of group grief counseling every day with a volunteer grief clinician. We have different prompts that help them open up,” Zima said.

The plans for the Texas location were already in motion when the July 4 floods hit the Hill Country this summer.

“I’m in regular contact with some of the Mystic parents because we want to support them as much as we can. A few things that we’re exploring are doing a specific retreat just for victims of the floods, where we would have our grief clinicians really cater to them. This is the type of counseling you guys might need based on what you’ve been through,” Zima said.

Zima said flood survivors from Mystic and beyond could have their own time and ability to process their loss in a joyful environment.

“If the right intervention happens, you can bring joy and resilience and build incredibly empathetic, wonderful kids, even when they’ve been through the worst. When they come to camp, you see their shoulders drop, you see them think, ‘Oh, I’m around people who get it. I don’t have to put on a mask here,’” Zima said.

Once kids are campers, they can return each year.

“A camper who loses a parent at age eight, their questions about grief, their struggles with grief are very different when they’re 15, 16. So they can come back to camp every single year. That’s part of our framework,” Zima said.

When it comes to new campers, Lia and Isaac’s message is this: “Just don’t be nervous. Give it a chance because it actually helps you out in the end, and it gives you a different perspective of everything, and it comforts you. It helps out a lot.”

Sign-ups have already begun for next summer’s sessions. Anyone who wants to register or get information can go to the Experience Camps website.

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