Rotary Camp for Children with Special Needs
Posted by DAN REYNOLDS
Case for Support
March 18, 2009
Who doesn't look back on the days of summer camp with a twinge of nostalgia? Summer camp is that first, maybe even hesitant, venture into independence, whereby one makes new friends, develops new skills, and learns how to be without Mom and Dad. But camp is more than just having fun and simple pleasure. Summer camp gives malleable young minds a unique opportunity to acquire behaviors that are essential for adulthood and the remainder of their lives.
Consequently, Rotary Camp is more than just summer camp as it provides critical developmental opportunities for its campers and desperately needed respite for the camper's families. Additionally, Rotary Camp takes great pride in acting as a community resource center and introducing families affected by a disability to not-previously-well-known resources which are paramount in providing those families with the assistance, support and other critical supplies they need.
For more than 80 years, Rotary Camp has provided these experiences and benefits to the Northeast Ohio Community based upon the simple belief that it is unacceptable for children and adults with disabilities to be denied the same fundamental life's experiences, opportunities for growth and development, and critical support channels as individuals without disabilities.
The Camp was started in the 1920s as an opportunity for children with physical disabilities, like Polio, to develop like other children through innovative accommodations so they too could experience personal growth.
Eighty years later, Rotary Camp facilities that were once adequate for children subjected to the ravages of physical disabilities are struggling to keep up with the demands of a variety of developmental and physical disabilities that predominately afflict today's children and the number of people that need to be served. In response, Rotary Camp trustees are considering a major replacement and renewal of the camp's facilities and existing programs to ensure the continued access and opportunity that Rotary Camp provides to children with disabilities, and their families.
Preliminary plans for $3.2 million of new construction and new programs are underway.
History of the Rotary Camp
Hezzelton Simmons, a former president of the University of Akron, and Walter Hoyt, a renowned orthopedic surgeon, pooled their talents and resources to rent a YMCA camp for ten days in 1924 to offer accommodating summer camp programs to children with disabilities. Camp was so well received by the children and their families that a year later, the Akron Rotary Club enthusiastically purchased the present site on Rex Lake to establish a permanent summer camp for children with disabilities. By 1926, Rotary Camp was permanently welcoming children, mainly with polio and cerebral palsy, to a place where disabilities were not limiting and a place that children felt accepted and at peace.
The Camp's facilities and programs have grown over the years. Residences have changed from tents to wooden cabins to concrete block cabins. In 1955, the Rotary Club erected the Walter Hoyt Recreation Hall and in 1963 improved that facility by creating a new kitchen, dining room, and crafts center.
The facilities are not the only things that have changed over the years. Begun as a camp for children with physical disabilities, Rotary Camp has expanded to serve a broad range of young people with physical and developmental disabilities, ages six to seventeen; and has developed and implemented additional programs for adults.
Regardless of the particular disability addressed, the primary goal is to develop people with disabilities through increasing independence and physical skills, teach a sense of cultural awareness, and to provide those that attend a place to belong and feel at home while also providing families with a much needed break from the rigors of care.
Rotary Camp Operations
Rotary Camp welcomes nearly 1,000 children and young adults each year into its day, overnight, and respite programs. Rotary Camp reaches children with disabilities and their families in eight counties throughout Northeastern Ohio, with a majority of our constituents (54%) residing in Summit County. Rotary Camp is the only organized camping program in Summit County that primarily serves individuals with disabilities.
Activities and operations are overseen by three year round staff - Director Dan Reynolds, Administrative Assistant Michelle Cahoon, and Program Director Ashlee Rauckhorst. They are assisted seasonally by about 50 trained staff members.
The Akron Area YMCA provides the professional staff mentioned above and oversees the daily operations of the camp. In addition to our relationship with the YMCA, Rotary Camp realizes efficiencies and other benefits through collaborative efforts with other community resources such as local public schools, the University of Akron, Kent State University, Akron Children's Hospital, Child Guidance Centers, various Boards of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, and other agencies and organizations that provide referrals of children that benefit from the Camp experience.
On average, it costs $1,000 to serve each camper. In an effort to keep the Camp accessible to the greatest number of families possible, fees have been underwritten by Akron Rotary fund raising and other various funding sources, and the Camp currently charges only $375. This is a significant commitment by the Akron Rotary membership. Furthermore, a family is never turned away if they lack the ability to pay; in 2008, the Rotary Camp Board provided over $50,000 in scholarships to those who seek the Camp program but cannot afford it.
Even after granting tens of thousands of dollars in annual scholarships, Rotary Camp maintains a balanced budget of over $435,000 and for the last several years has generated a cash surplus which is placed in a "rainy day" reserve, if needed at a later date. Rotary Camp is also the major charitable cause of the Akron Rotary Foundation, an independent, 501(c)(3), not-for-profit corporation which manages and oversees approximately $1.2 million in assets.
Planning for the Future
Since 1924, Rotary Camp has aspired to provide facilities and programs that are responsive to an ever-growing range of special needs. Facilities originally created for a relatively small number of physical disabilities have been modified over the years to accommodate broadening mental and physical special needs as they were recognized. Today, many, if not all of the existing structures are approaching the point where modifications and repairs may no longer be effective.
The Rotary Camp Board hopes to move forward with an update of the Rotary Camp's campus, facilities and programs, all of which are presented in the Rotary Camp's Master Plan:
· Bathrooms $450,000
This is the first priority of all Rotary Camp's projects as the existing facilities are out-of-date and rapidly approaching obsolescence. The existing bath house will be replaced with a new, more modern building which will allow for dignity, privacy and greater accessibility. The new building will be efficient and functional for all individuals, staff, and guests.
· Cabins $660,000
The seven existing concrete-block cabins will be updated with a much more welcoming appearance, modern amenities and other contemporary, special-needs accommodations necessary to serve today's special needs individual. The cabins will also be updated with new HVAC which will allow the Camp to operate year-round, thereby enhancing the facilities and available programs, and expanding the camp's outreach and the number of campers served.
· Recreation/Resource Center $1,710,000
The existing recreation center will be entirely razed and relocated, opening up a large amount of green space for additional activities, sports, and developmental opportunities. In addition to the rainy and wintery day program space made newly available through this initiative, the new recreation center will also provide modern medical facilities for campers and relocate camp offices in one location, closer to camping activities. The recreation center will also be home to new and innovative programs, satellite expansion and other learning opportunities further dramatically expanding our impact.
Perhaps of equal, if not even greater import, an expanded community resource center will be located within the Recreation Center, which will provide a permanent avenue to those desperately needed (and previously not-well-known) supporting products, services and resources that families truly need but generally do not how, where or when to locate.
· Waterfront Updates $170,000
The waterfront area is essentially Rotary Camp's front yard. Everyone boating on Rex Lake sees and hears all of the excitement that Camp offers. It is the most popular program space with swimming, canoes, kayaks, pontoon boats, the campfire circle area, a pavilion, and much more! This reconstruction and redevelopment of this area will offer more program area space, better signage, and solve current erosion issues.
· Expanded Program and Satellite Development Fund $210,000
In looking ahead, the Rotary Camp is also seeking funding for additional program and satellite developments. As the trends and needs for families of individuals with disabilities evolve, Rotary Camp continues to stay in tune with the demands. The program development fund will enable Rotary Camp to serve as many children as possible through expanded services and locations. As an example, in 2007 & 2008, Rotary Camp operated an additional day camp program for six weeks at Hale Farm and Village in Bath, Ohio. While at camp, campers enjoyed all of the traditional camp activities and also experienced unique Hale Farm programming such as glass blowing, basket making, and other colonial period crafts. Hundreds of additional campers and families have been served through these satellite programs. Future satellite possibilities exist in Medina and Cuyahoga counties, thereby adding the possibility of helping hundreds, if not thousands, more. Future program development will also include "Sibshops" - a year round program for siblings of children with special needs, the creation of social groups, and more family opportunities through year-round program classes, to further enhance the camp's ability to touch, develop and reach the entire family and support group of those affected by a disability. This is just a small sampling of places and programs that can be offered.
Rotary Camp's programs for people with disabilities are definitely a blessing for them and their families, but they're also a blessing for our communities, helping us enable everyone to achieve the full measure of their potential. Contributions to this campaign of Rotary Camp will not only continue these blessings for many years to come but will also dramatically expand the Camp's services, programs and outreach.
Consequently, Rotary Camp is more than just summer camp as it provides critical developmental opportunities for its campers and desperately needed respite for the camper's families. Additionally, Rotary Camp takes great pride in acting as a community resource center and introducing families affected by a disability to not-previously-well-known resources which are paramount in providing those families with the assistance, support and other critical supplies they need.
For more than 80 years, Rotary Camp has provided these experiences and benefits to the Northeast Ohio Community based upon the simple belief that it is unacceptable for children and adults with disabilities to be denied the same fundamental life's experiences, opportunities for growth and development, and critical support channels as individuals without disabilities.
The Camp was started in the 1920s as an opportunity for children with physical disabilities, like Polio, to develop like other children through innovative accommodations so they too could experience personal growth.
Eighty years later, Rotary Camp facilities that were once adequate for children subjected to the ravages of physical disabilities are struggling to keep up with the demands of a variety of developmental and physical disabilities that predominately afflict today's children and the number of people that need to be served. In response, Rotary Camp trustees are considering a major replacement and renewal of the camp's facilities and existing programs to ensure the continued access and opportunity that Rotary Camp provides to children with disabilities, and their families.
Preliminary plans for $3.2 million of new construction and new programs are underway.
History of the Rotary Camp
Hezzelton Simmons, a former president of the University of Akron, and Walter Hoyt, a renowned orthopedic surgeon, pooled their talents and resources to rent a YMCA camp for ten days in 1924 to offer accommodating summer camp programs to children with disabilities. Camp was so well received by the children and their families that a year later, the Akron Rotary Club enthusiastically purchased the present site on Rex Lake to establish a permanent summer camp for children with disabilities. By 1926, Rotary Camp was permanently welcoming children, mainly with polio and cerebral palsy, to a place where disabilities were not limiting and a place that children felt accepted and at peace.
The Camp's facilities and programs have grown over the years. Residences have changed from tents to wooden cabins to concrete block cabins. In 1955, the Rotary Club erected the Walter Hoyt Recreation Hall and in 1963 improved that facility by creating a new kitchen, dining room, and crafts center.
The facilities are not the only things that have changed over the years. Begun as a camp for children with physical disabilities, Rotary Camp has expanded to serve a broad range of young people with physical and developmental disabilities, ages six to seventeen; and has developed and implemented additional programs for adults.
Regardless of the particular disability addressed, the primary goal is to develop people with disabilities through increasing independence and physical skills, teach a sense of cultural awareness, and to provide those that attend a place to belong and feel at home while also providing families with a much needed break from the rigors of care.
Rotary Camp Operations
Rotary Camp welcomes nearly 1,000 children and young adults each year into its day, overnight, and respite programs. Rotary Camp reaches children with disabilities and their families in eight counties throughout Northeastern Ohio, with a majority of our constituents (54%) residing in Summit County. Rotary Camp is the only organized camping program in Summit County that primarily serves individuals with disabilities.
Activities and operations are overseen by three year round staff - Director Dan Reynolds, Administrative Assistant Michelle Cahoon, and Program Director Ashlee Rauckhorst. They are assisted seasonally by about 50 trained staff members.
The Akron Area YMCA provides the professional staff mentioned above and oversees the daily operations of the camp. In addition to our relationship with the YMCA, Rotary Camp realizes efficiencies and other benefits through collaborative efforts with other community resources such as local public schools, the University of Akron, Kent State University, Akron Children's Hospital, Child Guidance Centers, various Boards of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, and other agencies and organizations that provide referrals of children that benefit from the Camp experience.
On average, it costs $1,000 to serve each camper. In an effort to keep the Camp accessible to the greatest number of families possible, fees have been underwritten by Akron Rotary fund raising and other various funding sources, and the Camp currently charges only $375. This is a significant commitment by the Akron Rotary membership. Furthermore, a family is never turned away if they lack the ability to pay; in 2008, the Rotary Camp Board provided over $50,000 in scholarships to those who seek the Camp program but cannot afford it.
Even after granting tens of thousands of dollars in annual scholarships, Rotary Camp maintains a balanced budget of over $435,000 and for the last several years has generated a cash surplus which is placed in a "rainy day" reserve, if needed at a later date. Rotary Camp is also the major charitable cause of the Akron Rotary Foundation, an independent, 501(c)(3), not-for-profit corporation which manages and oversees approximately $1.2 million in assets.
Planning for the Future
Since 1924, Rotary Camp has aspired to provide facilities and programs that are responsive to an ever-growing range of special needs. Facilities originally created for a relatively small number of physical disabilities have been modified over the years to accommodate broadening mental and physical special needs as they were recognized. Today, many, if not all of the existing structures are approaching the point where modifications and repairs may no longer be effective.
The Rotary Camp Board hopes to move forward with an update of the Rotary Camp's campus, facilities and programs, all of which are presented in the Rotary Camp's Master Plan:
· Bathrooms $450,000
This is the first priority of all Rotary Camp's projects as the existing facilities are out-of-date and rapidly approaching obsolescence. The existing bath house will be replaced with a new, more modern building which will allow for dignity, privacy and greater accessibility. The new building will be efficient and functional for all individuals, staff, and guests.
· Cabins $660,000
The seven existing concrete-block cabins will be updated with a much more welcoming appearance, modern amenities and other contemporary, special-needs accommodations necessary to serve today's special needs individual. The cabins will also be updated with new HVAC which will allow the Camp to operate year-round, thereby enhancing the facilities and available programs, and expanding the camp's outreach and the number of campers served.
· Recreation/Resource Center $1,710,000
The existing recreation center will be entirely razed and relocated, opening up a large amount of green space for additional activities, sports, and developmental opportunities. In addition to the rainy and wintery day program space made newly available through this initiative, the new recreation center will also provide modern medical facilities for campers and relocate camp offices in one location, closer to camping activities. The recreation center will also be home to new and innovative programs, satellite expansion and other learning opportunities further dramatically expanding our impact.
Perhaps of equal, if not even greater import, an expanded community resource center will be located within the Recreation Center, which will provide a permanent avenue to those desperately needed (and previously not-well-known) supporting products, services and resources that families truly need but generally do not how, where or when to locate.
· Waterfront Updates $170,000
The waterfront area is essentially Rotary Camp's front yard. Everyone boating on Rex Lake sees and hears all of the excitement that Camp offers. It is the most popular program space with swimming, canoes, kayaks, pontoon boats, the campfire circle area, a pavilion, and much more! This reconstruction and redevelopment of this area will offer more program area space, better signage, and solve current erosion issues.
· Expanded Program and Satellite Development Fund $210,000
In looking ahead, the Rotary Camp is also seeking funding for additional program and satellite developments. As the trends and needs for families of individuals with disabilities evolve, Rotary Camp continues to stay in tune with the demands. The program development fund will enable Rotary Camp to serve as many children as possible through expanded services and locations. As an example, in 2007 & 2008, Rotary Camp operated an additional day camp program for six weeks at Hale Farm and Village in Bath, Ohio. While at camp, campers enjoyed all of the traditional camp activities and also experienced unique Hale Farm programming such as glass blowing, basket making, and other colonial period crafts. Hundreds of additional campers and families have been served through these satellite programs. Future satellite possibilities exist in Medina and Cuyahoga counties, thereby adding the possibility of helping hundreds, if not thousands, more. Future program development will also include "Sibshops" - a year round program for siblings of children with special needs, the creation of social groups, and more family opportunities through year-round program classes, to further enhance the camp's ability to touch, develop and reach the entire family and support group of those affected by a disability. This is just a small sampling of places and programs that can be offered.
Rotary Camp's programs for people with disabilities are definitely a blessing for them and their families, but they're also a blessing for our communities, helping us enable everyone to achieve the full measure of their potential. Contributions to this campaign of Rotary Camp will not only continue these blessings for many years to come but will also dramatically expand the Camp's services, programs and outreach.
Interested in being a sponsor?
Download the website sponsorship guide
Download the website sponsorship guide