John Schwider
Ambassador, Great Lakes Region
Royal Family KIDS
Royal Family KIDS
John was our speaker on Tuesday, July 21st and enlightened our members about Royal Family KIDS (RFK) which aims to intervene in the lives of children in foster care. RFK transforms communities by interrupting cycles of neglect, abuse and abandonment of children in the foster care system. They provide an array of programs, all directed toward changing the trajectory of young lives which usually include a combination of academic failure, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, sex trafficking, homelessness, and incarceration.
In 1985, an assistant pastor named Wayne Tesch and his wife, Diane, saw a need to provide hope to local foster children in Costa Mesa, California. They created a week-long summer camp held in the mountains, the “cathedral of the outdoors,” in order to create moments that matter for foster children ages 6-12.
When John Schwider started a summer camp for foster children in Chicago Southland in 1994, he found his niche. His whole focus became developing healthy supporting relationships for foster children. He transitioned from volunteer to a full-time position as Field Representative with Royal Family KIDS in 2005. Although he works nationwide, his concentration is in the Great Lakes Region which includes Ohio.
Royal Family KIDS mobilizes churches to begin summer camps for foster children. Currently there are 239 camps nationally and internationally. There are 10 camps in Ohio but are limited in their activities currently because of COVID-19. The organization expanded to include mentoring clubs, Teen Reach Adventure Camps (TRAC) and the teen mentoring component, TRAC Life. Through these four passages the church can be the one organization in a foster child’s life that can maintain consistent relationships from age six to eighteen.
When children age out of foster care at age 18, RFK still maintains contact with many of their “kids” via their Facebook page. Over the 30 years of RFK’s existence 106,000 children have been served. Last year RFK served 9,00 children. Serving these children were 14,000 volunteers. The week at camp is magical. The sponsoring church pick up the children via coach buses. Children arriving at camp are greeted with a poster board welcoming each-and-every child. Each day there is a choice of activities that campers can choose from. At the end of their week of camp, the students plant a silver maple tree. Before planting the tree, each camper writes a note about a traumatic event in their life. The note is buried in the hole as the tree is planted, as a way of “letting go” of that traumatic event and moving on with their life. The camp ratio is 30 kids and 50 volunteers. The closest camp for Summit County is in Canton. This camp has been in operation for 20 years.
For additional information on Royal Family KIDS you can visit their website at www.RFK.org.
