A Georgia camp that has provided summer events for hundreds of disabled children and adults over the last 22 years may be facing a disheartening change this year. But parties involved may have reached an agreement to provide camp for most of this summer’s participants.
Camp Dream, which was in the works through much of the 1980s and 1990s, has been a mainstay of the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute since it opened in 1996. When founded, it was the only camp of its kind that offered opportunities to children regardless of the forms or severity of their disability.
But officials said that with new management of the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (GVRA) has come new requirements that they believe would have been impossible to meet in time.
According to a statement from the Camp Dream Foundation, they received a letter in May of 2017 which included what the organization described as "ambiguous statements of upcoming change" and requested they speak directly with the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute going forward.
But, roughly one year later, the state said that Camp Dream couldn’t open this summer because they didn’t get the certificate that shows they have emergency transportation, their councilors are trained and they have the correct camper to counselor ratio. It’s part of the requirements needed for American Camp Association now by the GVRA. The state calls it a matter of safety.
The camp argued they did have all of that, but the process to get certified takes 12 to 18 months – not enough time to hold camp this summer. The back and forth between the camp and the state just left families heartbroken – many of whom said their kids wait for a chance to go to this camp all year long.
“It's the only time of year she's quote, normal, like everyone else, or a lot of the other campers,” one of the 220 frustrated campers said. “It's pretty big for her to lose this.”
“It makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about telling him,” said another parent. “They love these kids. These kids just light up when you talk about Camp Dream. And when you think about it being taken away last minute, it's hard to fathom.”
But some good news may be around the corner – at least for some. The camp is now working with the state to facilitate most of the campers who won’t be able to go to their usual Camp Dream location this year.
They’ll be setting up a camp elsewhere that has all the accreditation. However, they haven’t said just yet where that will be.
