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Our Story

Camp Colley, a one-of-its-kind nature-based environmental education and social skill development program, serves hundreds of underserved Phoenix children every year.

Mission

Camp Colley Foundation provides wilderness experiences and environmental education for underserved Phoenix children to nurture healthy development and resilience, foster meaningful relationships, and encourage wilderness exploration.

History

Twenty years ago, Camp Colley was acquired by the City of Phoenix under the leadership of James Colley, Parks, Recreation & Libraries Director with the city. Jim’s vision was to create a space in Arizona’s northern remote wilderness giving underserved Phoenix children access to the beauty and wonder of nature for positive learning and growth. Recognizing the educational, inspirational and healing power of meaningful time spent outdoors, Camp Colley Foundation, celebrating its 15th year in 2019, funded scholarships for over 4,000 Phoenix children to attend Camp Colley free of charge.

In 2020, as the pandemic was spreading rapidly through the Spring, we made the difficult decision to forego the in-person camp season for the health and safety of our campers and staff. With a renewed commitment to bringing the camp experience back for Phoenix-area kids, we hired a full-time Camp Director in January and began putting plans in place for a 2021 season. After just three weeks of camp, we were forced to close once again due to the devasting fire season throughout the area.

With two back-to-back summers without operating camp at its fullest capacity, the Foundation’s Board of Director’s made the difficult decision to no longer serve as the camp operator and shift our attention to raising scholarship funds for City of Phoenix kids to attend other camps of their choosing.