At Hope With Heart, we're on a mission to empower children with congenital heart disease. Through our week-long summer sleepaway camp - FREE OF CHARGE - we provide a safe space where kids can just be kids. Our goal is to inspire resilience, nurture friendships, and instill hope in every young heart. Together, we're creating a world where every heart warrior can embrace life with courage and joy. 

Hope With Heart aspires to foster an encouraging environment where every individual walks away healthier, happier, and more confident in themselves. Before launching Hope With Heart in 1989, our founders noticed that the hospital was the only space for children with congenital heart disease (CHD) to interact with one another. In their everyday lives, these young CHD warriors felt like they didn’t have a place among their peers, as they were often ridiculed for being different. Unfortunately, many children felt the need to isolate themselves as a result, leading to increased depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.  

As parents of CHD warriors, our founders wanted to create a better future for their children and others like them. Thus, Hope With Heart was born. Our goal as an organization is to establish a nurturing environment where children living with CHD can forge meaningful connections, create lasting memories, and cultivate self-confidence. Every year, we welcome new campers who arrive on campus a bit timid – but with support from their peers and our staff, they blossom throughout the week and leave more sure of themselves. For example, many of our campers are self-conscious of their surgical scars on their chests, so swimming can be an extremely anxiety inducing activity. But at Hope With Heart, our counselors arrive at the pool each day proudly donning their scars, demonstrating to our campers that they don’t need to be ashamed of these marks but that they only make them stronger. 

For 35 years, our staff has been proud to watch these individuals transform into more confident and happier versions of themselves. When they age out of being a camper, most individuals transition to be a counselor, continuing to create the same fun and inviting environment they experienced for younger generations.