summer camp in N. California

Friends and families,

Is there interest in helping to start a summer camp program in
Northern California for kids who sleepwet? A camp in New England and
one in eastern Canada offering such programs, but none do on the west
coast that I know of outside of programs for kids with physical
disabilities.

I'll tell you why I ask. I volunteer with two summer camp sessions at
a conference center where I serve on the board of directors. This
non-profit center occupies 80 acres of redwood and oak forest near
Santa Cruz, California, about sixty miles south of San Francisco.
Each camp is a week-long co-ed residential program for 25 to 30
campers. One is for rising 5th to 7th graders [ages 9 to 12] and the
other is for rising 8th to 10th graders [ages 12 to 15.]

One of my roles at camp [besides resident storyteller] has been to
assist campers and counselors with sleepwetting management. For at
least five summers, we've had one or more campers bring GoodNites to
sleep in, and the camp has provided them if needed. We know that some
kids deal with sleepwetting at camp more easily than others, but we
also know that it has kept some kids from coming to camp at all.

If there is real interest from families with kids ages 9 to 13 who
might come this summer, I will see if we can set up an extra session
just for kids likely to sleepwet. It would probably start with dinner
on a Sunday and end the following Friday after lunch. That's five
nights. We can use 24 beds in five bunkhouse style rooms. [four rooms
of 4, one of 8.] That works for four counsellors and up to twenty
campers, but we could go with as few as ten campers and two
counselors to get started this year. I have in mind some prospective
counselors of high school and college age who have family or camp
experience dealing with sleepwetting. The center has paid staff who
would be around but not leading this camp. We'd need to pay a cook
and have two or three adult volunteer staff besides me. I expect our
costs for staff and camper room and board would come to about $300
per camper for the week.

The program of the camp would not be about sleepwetting, although I
expect there'd be some conversations about it here and there. We'd
have some basic expectations and support about management and self
care. Our campers would do the sorts of things our other camps do:
crafts, hikes, games, stories, campfires, etc. Possible outings
include trips to a swimming pool, a beach, and the Santa Cruz
Boardwalk which has rides and other amusements. We'd gather each
morning for community activities and have small groups led by
counselors to do some games and basic camp chores.

I ask that people interested in developing this particular camp
contact me directly by e-mail. What I'd like to hear about is two
kinds of interest:
1. Families with kids likely to come to this camp this summer and
2. Parents in the San Francisco Bay Area who might help with some
planning support and outreach. With that support, we can get
sponsorship by the Kiwanis Club we belong to which will include
liability insurance for the program and outreach to teen and preteen
service clubs Kiwanis sponsors in the Bay Area.

Tom
--
Tom & Sandy Farley
Spontaneous Combustion Storytellers
Sleepwetting Forum - http://www.spont.com/sleepwetting.html