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. I am humbled and grateful for the support that you provide Camp Colley Foundation. In order to meet the challenges facing the youth in our community, our story and efforts need to be shared more broadly; we need others who support positive youth development to join our family of support.
As 2016 ends, share Camp Colley Foundation with those you know. Perhaps you are able to increase your donation to help Camp Colley Foundation strategically meet the needs of the youth we serve and breathe optimism, self-confidence, and opportunity into their lives.
I am grateful for all your support and love for the youth in our community and Camp Colley Foundation. I wish you the best in 2017.
With Gratitude,
Mamie Coffey, Director of Operations
