New Hope hosts Summer Camp for children in Family Shelter
This summer, from mid-May through the end of July, New Hope for Families provided free full-day summer camp for 14 school-aged children staying in our family shelter. The summer camp was staffed by camp leader Cam Thatcher and camp coordinators Josie Lobring and Bailey Brase, under the supervision of Shelter Director Mary Hamric.
One of the advantages offered by New Hope’s summer camp is its flexibility. Most summer camp programs enroll children months in advance, making them inaccessible for families who enter shelter on short notice or after other programs have already begun. By design, New Hope’s summer camp is able to admit children as needed on a rolling basis.
By freeing families from the burden of child care for school-age children, New Hope’s summer camp allows the adults to keep working while their children are kept active and safely supervised.
This wonderful opportunity was made possible through generous funding from Monroe County Community School Corporation and other local partners.
Highlights of this year’s New Hope summer camp included:
Campers received free admission every week provided by Wonderlab.
Campers received free admission to Bloomington city pools.
Campers received free lunches and snacks each day delivered by Community Kitchen.
Campers regularly walked to Switchyard Park, making good use of its proximity to New Hope.
Summer camp has benefits for children of all backgrounds, but especially for children in families impacted by homelessness.
Summer camp protects families and children from remaining homeless through the summer break until they can get child care again.
Summer camp helps New Hope move families out of the crisis of homelessness faster.
Summer camp bridges a wide child care gap for the parents of school-aged kids so they can move on to stable housing quickly.
Summer camp enables hardworking families to accept opportunities like employment and housing.
School break enrichment activities are a proven tool to reduce summer learning loss.
Shelter Director Mary Hamric shared the following example of a family who benefited from this year’s summer camp:
A mom and dad with two kids came to the shelter just before summer started. Mom is also six-months pregnant. When the school year ended, they were left with no child care for their older daughter. Because mom needed help caring for two kids while pregnant, dad wasn’t able to work either. But, because we were able to provide them with our summer camp program, dad was able to get a high-paying job and they are now in the process of getting approved for housing with a tentative move-in scheduled for August! In addition, the older daughter has made new friends and flourished being around other children and she feels more comfortable starting at a new school this month.