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Camp Colley Foundation Team Expands

Camp Colley Foundation is celebrating the growth of its Board of Directors and staff team to more successfully achieve its mission to provide outdoor education programming to underserved Phoenix children for positive learning and growth. Mac Woods, an associate with Osborn Maledon who practices education law to expand Arizona children’s access to quality learning, has joined the Camp Colley Foundation Board of Directors. Mac will help position the organization to deepen its impact and expand services to Phoenix children. Mac will also help expand Camp Colley’s program offerings to third parties as a means to generate scholarship dollars to send underserved Phoenix children to camp. Danny Moran, the Senior Marketing Manager at Plexus Worldwide- a health and wellness company- is passionate about promoting learning and growth for marginalized and underserved in the Phoenix community. Danny will lend his skillsets in marketing and design to advance the Foundation’s recognition as Phoenix’s premier summer camp program. Danny will also continue building the success of S’mores & Scholarships at our second annual event this fall. Lastly, Jessica Voss has joined the Camp Colley team as the organization’s Camp Program Director. Jessica will lead program design and development to maximize campers’ educational learning and social-emotional skill development at camp. Jessica has been involved with Camp Colley since 2012 and will ensure the traditions and culture continue to live on under the Foundation’s leadership. Jessica is excited to rejoin the Camp Colley family! Camp Colley Foundation is thankful for the community support that has allowed this organizational growth. A deeper impact will be made at Camp Colley in 2020 and beyond. Sincerely, Richard Berg,...

Camp Colley Foundation Takes On Camp Operations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 23, 2020 Dear Friend of Camp Colley: The Camp Colley Foundation is excited to announce that it will become the operator of Camp Colley beginning with the 2020 season. As the funder of camp scholarships and capital improvements for fifteen years, our foundation is poised to provide hundreds of underserved Phoenix children with high-quality nature camp experiences for positive leaning and growth in nature. This transition is made possible because of our Board of Directors’ multi-year effort to expand our foundation’s impact. In early 2019 the organization took a major step toward that goal by hiring Richard Berg, a seasoned youth development and camp professional, as our first Executive Director. Now the City of Phoenix, which owns and maintains the camp property, has now entrusted us to fully operate Camp Colley. Our program goals for 2020 include: Expanding each session to 5 days, 4 nights Maximizing Camp Colley’s capacity by serving 450 City of Phoenix campers over six sessions Enhancing programs and activities to ensure campers develop healthy confidence and self-esteem, build leadership and interpersonal skills, and learn environmental science and sustainability at our wilderness camp. Adding year-round programming in our camper’s communities to continue meaningful connections with nature for positive learning and growth beyond camp. Our Camp Program Director will build a seasonal staff of well-trained and eager individuals to deliver quality programs and activities for our campers that will include horseback riding, leadership training and environmental education. Together the board and staff are committed to earning accreditation from the American Camp Association in the upcoming years– the ‘bullseye’ in summer camp health, safety...

Letter from the Director: Goals for 2017

Goals for 2017: Letter from the Director Friends of Camp Colley Foundation, The time-honored tradition of making New Year resolutions speaks to the promise and optimism we feel as we approach a new year. Camp Colley Foundation has identified two strategic goals that will provide greater support for our campers in 2017. In 2017, our goals are to expand counselor training and strengthen strategic partnerships to better meet the needs of the marginalized, minority, and struggling youth we love and serve. Many of our campers deal with the effects of complex trauma. By expanding our staff and counselor training to include a basic understanding of Adverse Childhood Experiences and how they affect children, our staff will be better able to meet the needs of our campers. Part of this goal is to include the counselors and chaperones from our partner organizations who attend camp with the kids. Our summer camp provides the space and time for youth to strengthen relationships with peers and adults. Title I schools, after school programs, and other youth development programs have weekly, and sometimes daily, contact with the kids they serve, making them the ideal complement to the services Camp Colley provides. The teachers and adult mentors at these organizations come to camp with the youth as chaperone-counselors and then return to daily lifewith a stronger relationship and understanding of the kids they work with. This helps provide the network of positive peer and adult relationships that youth urgently need to navigate their daily challenges. Camp Colley will better address the issues facing youth in our community through expanding our staff training and further developing partnerships with community organizations that serve youth year-round....

Letters from Camp: Camper Experience

Meaningful Connections Happen at Camp Colley Camp Colley is all about connections. Our program is designed to connect kids to nature, self-confidence, and relationships. These are protective and promotive factors for youth. Nature is inherently fascinating and challenging- providing space to learn both cognitively and emotionally. Many of our kids have never been outside of their urban environment. At Camp Colley, they feel the connection to something larger than themselves and can envision larger possibilities for their lives. Camp Colley intentionally provides recreation that our campers have never done before. Mountain biking, canoeing, or archery become healthy risk-taking opportunities- a crucial component for youth to develop decision-making skills and self-confidence. Connecting kids to their ability to make good decisions and try new things builds self-confidence that leads to success in other areas of their lives. Learning new things, trying something for the first time, and meeting new people stretches campers out of their comfort zone. This opens the door for campers to connect with their peers and camp counselors in meaningful ways as they face the unknown together. The messages we receive from kids after their time at Camp Colley indicate that they are feeling these connections, even if they don’t know what to call it. This is what they tell us: “I love Camp Colley. Next time I want to stay longer!” -KM “My favorite part was canoeing- even though I tipped over the first time! Next time I want to canoe for the whole day.” -AR “I want to come back and have my same counselor next year.” -JC “Next year I would love to work in...

Letters from Camp: Weekend Family Camp

Why Does Camp Colley offer Family Camp? We’ve all heard of risk factors that contribute to negative outcomes for youth and problems within families. Living in low socio-economic (low SES) circumstances is a persistent risk factor with far-reaching negative impact. Families living in poverty, or low SES circumstances, not only have the “normal struggles” that raising children brings but must also combat the harmful impacts of poverty. Parents and children often have increased feelings of stress and alienation from financial insecurity, food insecurity, lack of time and energy for positive parenting, and very often the sense of being different and less worthwhile. For children, the negative impact of stress and unhappiness may be indirect and direct  as they experience the impact stress has on their parents as well as themselves. Protective Factors are the positive counterpoint to risk factors. Relationships with caring, responsible adults (including parents), strong family connections, healthy recreation and hobbies, and resilience are among the most impactful protective factors. When present, they increase positive outcomes for children, families, and communities.   Weekend Family Camp at Camp Colley provides the time, space, and nurturing environment for families to connect and build these protective factors in their lives. Time away from the daily stressors in their lives provides opportunity to interact and relate with each other in meaningful ways that strengthen relationships. The natural, “wilderness” environment of Camp Colley provides solace and improves mental and emotional well-being. The activities and outdoor recreation are opportunities to try new things and accomplish “hard things.” The struggle of these challenges and experiencing success upon completion is the foundation for building self-confidence and resilience. Camp Colley is...

Letters from Camp: Job Training at Camp Colley

Perspectives from Youth in the Camp Colley Job Training Program In Phoenix, 1 in 5 of our young adults ages 16-24 are neither working nor in school. It is the highest rate in the nation. This demographic is referred to “Disconnected Youth” or “Opportunity Youth.” In 2015 Camp Colley partnered with ACYR to provide job training and work experience to disconnected youth as a continuation of our mission to help youth transition successfully into adulthood. There are three main aspects to the Camp Colley Job Training and Social Emotional Learning for Disconnected Young Adults Program: “soft skills” training, on-the-job training, and life-enriching experiences in nature. Soft skills training, such as preparing a resume, learning how to interview for a job, and basic communication skills are taught at ACYR before the intern goes to camp to have on-the-job training. The third component of the work experience program is the life-enriching experiences that come from time spent in nature. The outdoor activities and immersion in nature is available to the work-training participants during off-work hours. For many of the young adults in this program it is the first time they have been exposed to outdoor recreation and the transformative effects nature has on mental and emotional wellbeing. Included below are the experiences and perspectives of several interns from Camp Season 2016. “I learned how to communicate better with my peers, and I made many new friends.” -DD  “I felt I grew more as a person there to be able to finally mature and see why it’s so important to follow and lead.” -CB “Going to camp was a good experience for...
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