Summer Retreat

“On this retreat I was able to experience genuine spiritual healing which I carried home with me. The compassion and understanding I received on the weekend touched me deeply.”

— Carol

 

Our survivor retreats include:

  • A welcoming, supportive community that accepts you just as you are

  • Reflections from fellow survivors

  • Thoughtful, trauma-sensitive prayer services

  • Space for personal reflection and time in nature

  • Opportunities for small group sharing

  • Optional Mass, Reconciliation, and Anointing, for those who are interested

  • Friendship and joy!

Awake hosted our first in-person gathering for abuse survivors from all over the country in July 2023 at Cedar Valley Retreat Center in West Bend, Wisconsin, just north of Milwaukee; 17 survivors from 11 states joined us for this transformative experience of community and support. Read a post about our first retreat on the Awake Blog: “I Will Never Forget This Weekend”: Transformative Experiences at Awake’s First Retreat for Abuse Survivors.

Our second annual retreat took place in July 2024, once again in West Bend, Wisconsin. 20 participants (including 12 returning attendees) experienced a weekend with profound and lasting impacts. Read more about the retreat here: “Without Saying a Word, You are Safe and Understood”: Reflections from Awake’s Second Annual Survivor Retreat.

Awake’s third annual retreat for abuse survivors will take place from July 18 to 20, 2025 in West Bend, Wisconsin.

If you have experienced sexual abuse by a Catholic leader and would like to be invited to this retreat, please email Survivor Care Coordinator Esther Harber at estherharber@awakecommunity.org. Registration will open in early 2025.

Some of the retreatants and retreat leaders at our 2024 retreat.

A collaborative art project from our 2024 retreat.

Our retreats also offer time for personal reflection, prayer, and contemplation in nature.

 

“This was the first time that I felt that I had space to grieve what I lost through my abuse, and subsequently begin to see the sprouts of new life coming out in my life after the abuse and trauma.”

—Anonymous

 

“[This was] as compassionate, empathic, and supportive a Catholic community as I've ever experienced, not afraid to confront hard subjects and sensitive to the individual's experience.”

—Colin