Camp HOPE America is the first evidence-based camping and mentoring program in the United States to focus on children and teens exposed to domestic violence. Our mission is to give youth a brighter future by creating pathways to hope and healing. What makes Camp HOPE America special is the trauma-informed lens the program was developed from. At Camp HOPE America, we praise campers for the person that they are becoming; seeing their character for who they are and not what they have accomplished. From the beginning, the goal has been to create a year-round program where youth can feel safe, seen, heard, encouraged, and cared for. Camp HOPE America is composed of a week of camp, supported by year-round activities.
Throughout the course of a week at camp, campers participate in a variety of activities ranging from field games to rock climbing, tubing to high and low ropes courses, and art projects to silly campfire songs. Campers are challenged to step outside of their comfort zone and accomplish an activity they haven’t had the opportunity to before, in order to overcome their fears. Each day, campers read about real people, not too much older than they are, who have overcome diversity, abuse, and other real life challenges to show them that they are not alone, and that their past does not define their future.
The year-round piece of the Camp HOPE America program is intended to create a safe and nurturing community for not only the youth involved, but their families as well. The events held throughout the year are varied, ranging from team building activities to college tours. We want to continue to expose children and teens to potential careers they never would have known about, STEAM projects, hobbies and interests, etc., while also giving them positive role models and friends.
Camp HOPE America is a program like no other—showing youth that there is a future ahead of hope healing beyond the trauma that they have endured in the past.