Due to the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the state of New York, we regretfully announce that we are cancelling our HFH Summer Camps sleep-away program for the upcoming 2021 season.

We were excited for the possibilities of the upcoming summer, but after looking into various options, we have come to this decision to ensure the health and safety of our HFH Summer Camps community.

We continue to support families experiencing homelessness in New York City through our HFH programming. To learn more, please visit HFHnyc.org.

Last summer, Nicholas Friedland, a Junior at the Calhoun School, developed a volunteer photo project at Camps Wakonda and Lanowa. He distributed disposable cameras to the campers and encouraged them to photograph their friends, daily routines, and activities. Take a peek at the campers’ snapshots of the HFH Summer Camps experience, through their lens.

The first session of HFH Summer Camps 2019 begins on June 28, but camper recruitment efforts are already underway for the summer, when hundreds of New York City kids will enjoy a free sleepaway camp experience.

Paola Rodriguez, Camp Registrar for HFH Summer Camps, is responsible for coordinating the team of Camp Recruiters that help families to navigate every aspect of camp attendance, from ensuring that families meet application deadlines to accompanying campers on their way to and from Camps Lanowa and Wakonda in Harriman State Park.

“We start in February because that’s when we have our Provider Breakfast,” says Rodriguez, referring to the annual HFH Camps Provider Breakfast, when shelter providers from throughout New York City gather to learn more about the 2019 application process. “And then, after that, we just start setting up information sessions, calling all the sites that we have on our database.”

Camp Recruiters travel to homeless shelters throughout New York City, where they present on the camps experience to families and staff. These information sessions are critical to spreading the word and building excitement about HFH Summer Camps.

Most children participating in HFH Summer Camps have never had a sleepaway camp experience before, and these information sessions are also a chance for Camp Recruiters to answer any questions and assuage parents’ concerns.

Rodriguez has worked in camper recruitment for four years, and over this time, she has learned to address parents’ common concerns while bringing attention to the unique features of an HFH Summer Camps experience. For example, the opportunity for kids to interact with international staff.

“One of the things that I love about our camps is the fact that they have diverse staff,” she says. “Whether it’s their accent or what they like to eat, they just bring a different aspect to the camp and it’s nice to see all the different people and the relationships they build.”

Part of Rodriguez’s appreciation for the staff’s diverse backgrounds stems from her own international experience as a teenager. At 17, she spent two weeks at an international school in Senegal through a school program. She credits the experience with sparking her interest in education and youth outreach.

“Something that I saw there was that there was a lot of poverty, and when I came back, my whole life kind of changed,” she says of the trip. “I felt more grateful for the things that I have and that I didn’t even think about prior to the trip. So, it was kind of an awakening experience.”

Shortly thereafter, Rodriguez applied for a Camp Counselor position with HFH Summer Camps. She was asked to consider a Camp Recruiter position instead due to her bilingualism and strong interpersonal skills.

“I had first applied as a Counselor because I didn’t get that experience as a child,” she says. “I interviewed over the phone and she told me that I would be perfect as a camp recruiter.”

Rodriguez was promoted to the role of Camp Registrar after three years working as a Camp Recruiter and one year working as a Senior Camp Recruiter. She also spent one year working as an Afterschool Teacher at Prospect Family Residence.

All children participating in HFH Summer Camps are experiencing or have previously experienced homelessness, which Rodriguez notes can add unique challenges to the application process. Camp Recruiters are responsible for ensuring that these complexities don’t interfere with a child’s participation in HFH Summer Camps.

“It takes them away from the complicated situation they’re in,” Rodriguez explains. “That experience takes a toll on the children and as adults, we might not notice that, but it really does. Their whole lives, they’ll always remember the time that they went to camp, seeing all the animals, swimming in the lake, and talking to their friends.”

Over the course of her four years working in camper recruitment, Rodriguez has also learned to address parents’ individual concerns with patience and a personalized touch.

“I try to make the parents feel as comfortable as possible and when I speak to them it’s like we’re having a conversation one on one,” she says. “As parents, they’re concerned about their children, so I try to talk to them as much as I can about safety and how we’re going to take care of their children.”

In addition to her role as Camp Registrar, Rodriguez was recently accepted into Hunter College, where she plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in women’s and gender studies. She has already received her associate degree in education from Bronx Community College.

“In this organization, I was able to grow and learn things that I didn’t know throughout the four years that I’ve been working here,” Rodriguez says, noting that she began working for HFH Summer Camps while transitioning from high school into her first semester in college.

In the future, Rodriguez intends to continue working in education and youth outreach.

“I definitely want to be in a school environment, whether as a parent coordinator or a counselor. Somewhere where I can interact with kids daily,” she says. “If I get to help kids no matter what, that’s my big thing.”

In the context of HFH Summer Camps, Rodriguez notes that participation not only enriches kids’ summer vacation, but also acts as a springboard for connecting their families with the services and programs available to them. One of her most memorable moments as a Camp Recruiter came when she helped to facilitate a family’s access to health insurance, which is a prerequisite for participation in HFH Summer Camps.

“There was this one time where I had a kid who really wanted to attend camp, but he didn’t have insurance,” she recalls of the child, whose family had not yet applied for the health insurance program for which they qualified. “I connected them with the correct people and it got done. He was able to go to session three.”

Rodriguez’s experience with the child’s family exemplifies the personalized and proactive approach to problem-solving she has applied throughout her four years working in camp recruitment.

“What motivates me are their faces when I take them to camp and when I bring them back,” she says. “Fifteen years later they can say that they went to camp, and even if they don’t remember me, I feel like I played a part in that.”

At the annual Teen Leader Retreat, participants in the HFH Summer Camps Teen Leader Program gathered for a weekend filled with ropes courses and reminiscing after a summer spent acting as mentors at HFH Summer Camps.

The Teen Leader Program, which lasts for three years, gives participants the opportunity to mentor younger campers while honing their leadership and team-building skills. All participants are former campers who have aged out of HFH Summer Camps and have been selected for the program based upon their leadership potential and enthusiasm for camp.

“They have such a love for camp, and you can see over the three years while they’re in the program how that grows,” says Georgeann Ramos, Program Associate for HFH, who facilitated the retreat. “They take a lot of pride in their positions and being at camp.”

As former campers, the teen leaders leverage both their personal experiences and the leadership skills they have gained through the Teen Leader Program to act as impactful role models for children in HFH Summer Camps.

Upon completion of the program, they are encouraged to continue their involvement with HFH Summer Camps as general counselors.

“At camp, I saw kids who were shy because they just got into a shelter or had never been separated from family,” says Julio, a former teen leader who now works as a general counselor at HFH Summer Camps. “I made sure they had friends or knew that someone was here for them, that they were not alone.”

Participants in the Teen Leader Program have the opportunity to develop skills in leadership, teamwork, and empowerment that they can apply to other contexts in their lives, including their academics.

“It taught me about being comfortable with people, understanding people, what they were going through,” notes Julio of his experience. “I was more open and reliable at school and during the school year.”

The annual retreat, which took place over two days at the Princeton-Blairstown Center in Princeton, New Jersey, incorporated a series of teambuilding exercises intended to strengthen bonds between teen leaders while building excitement for the next camp season.

On the first day, the teens engaged in a series of group activities, games, and icebreakers before working together through several low ropes courses. While navigating the low ropes courses, they worked together to troubleshoot challenges through open dialogue and collaboration.

The exercises culminated the following morning with the teens further applying the teamwork and cohesion they had built over the previous day’s activities by navigating a high ropes course together.

“It takes the whole team-building thing to the next level when they’re 50 feet in the air,” Ramos notes. “They encourage each other, including those who are scared. Everyone has to try.”

Teen leaders from all levels of the three-year program were also able reunite at the retreat, facilitating mentorship opportunities within the program as graduating teen leaders advised new participants preparing for their first summer in the program.

In addition to enjoying zip lines, card games, and leadership activities, the teen leaders spent the weekend discussing their experiences the previous summer with one another and program staff. This allowed for valuable feedback as preparations begin for next summer, when the teens will play a special role in mentoring and inspiring younger campers.

“They really look up to them,” affirms Ramos. “It’s a positive experience for the other campers because a lot of them who have been coming to camp for years aspire to become Teen Leaders themselves.”

In addition to the annual retreat, the Teen Leader Program incorporates two other seasonal activities. This year, the teens attended a spring training event hosted by the Leadership Program, where they learned about positive and negative leadership skills and discussed examples of leaders in their own lives.

They also attended the American Camp Association’s 2018 LEAD Conference at Bank Street College, where they met with other teen camp leaders from around the region and attended seminars on themes like the importance of a ‘counselor voice’ and the transition from camper to counselor.

These year-long activities are integral to the Teen Leader Program, offering the teens special opportunities to develop valuable leadership skills while building a sense of consistency and a familial atmosphere between participants.

Above all, events like the Teen Leader Retreat reinforce the tight bonds forged between participants, many of whom become close friends over the course of their participation.

“I like being a TL because of how great camp is,” says Nour, who is going into his third year as a Teen Leader. “Not only that but the experience of being a role model and leader to others is really satisfying because this job is a group job and we have each other’s backs.”