|
|
Programs & Services | Summer Camp
Camp Experience
A Superb Camp Program
Camp Heartland holds its primary camping sessions during the summer months. During summer sessions, we welcome hundreds of kids, ages 7-17, from across the country to one-week sessions held at the Camp Heartland Center in Willow River, Minnesota, and a beautiful hill-top camp in Malibu, California. From climbing the 40-foot climbing wall and nighttime chats in bunk-beds, to trips to Club Meds infirmary and HIV/AIDS discussion groups, the camp program combines the carefree adventure of typical "sleep-away" camps with the medical and emotional support so vital to kids impacted by HIV/AIDS.
Campers live in cabins with 6-8 other boys or girls near their age, and two or three professionally trained counselors. Sleeping on bunks and trekking a short way to the nearest shower house, kids enjoy a genuine camping experience. The camp schedule features days packed with fun and exciting programming. Activities offered include:
Archery
Climbing Wall
Basketball
Baseball
Tennis
Swimming |
Hockey
"Waterworld" Water Fights
Boating
Fishing
Arts & Crafts |
Drama
Dance
Games
Newspaper
Eco-Adventure |
Camp days end with exciting all-camp activities known as Evening Programs (EPs), such as campfires, dances and scavenger hunts. Nights in the cabins are often filled with voices and laughter, discussing topics ranging from funniest memory of the day to personal hopes and fears.
Special Opportunities for Support and Community Building
While our camping program offers kids an experience of normalcy and fun, Camp Heartland also offers campers the option to speak about AIDS with other kids or staff. Throughout the sessions, campers are able to sign up for discussion groups to talk with their peers about HIV/AIDS-related issues, and to ask questions of nurses, social workers, psychologists and other professionally trained staff. In addition, campers enjoy walking along the Trail of Hope, a wooded trail featuring artwork and poetry created by campers about life with HIV/AIDS. Many campers find that discussing HIV/AIDS at Camp Heartland gives them a feeling of relief and liberation, helping them cope better throughout the year.
In addition to the formal opportunities to discuss HIV/AIDS, campers often casually chat about AIDS with their friends or counselors. For those kids that choose not to talk about AIDS while at camp, Camp Heartland continues to provide a supportive and accepting community, where kids know they are not alone.
|
