[youth rally]
Courtney Mangin was scared to go to camp. The Wildwood teenager had an ostomy, a surgical opening in her side through which she used the bathroom, and she wasn’t sure how the other campers would react. But she needn’t have worried, because the summer program she attended, Youth Rally, is specially designed for adolescents with bowel and bladder dysfunctions. The weeklong sleepaway program proved life-changing. “I finally realized I had people like me and I wasn’t alone,” Mangin says. “It’s nice to find people who understand what you’re going through and who you can talk to.”
For 30 years, Youth Rally has provided an empowering camp experience for teens whose medical problems, including Crohn’s, colitis, bladder exstrophy, Hirschsprung’s and spina bifida, may make them feel like outsiders among their peers. “It’s the kind of topic that you don’t feel comfortable talking to your friends about,” counselor Mary Beth Akers of Chesterfield explains. “Youth Rally’s a place where you can talk to someone who has walked in your shoes.”
Kids ages 11 to 17 from around the country gather each summer at a college campus to gain independent living skills, learn how to advocate for themselves and enjoy each others’ company. Through games and small group discussions, they learn how to handle physical education classes, dating and applying for college. They also explore their surroundings; last summer, campers ventured out into downtown Seattle. To ensure teens feel comfortable, every counselor also has a bowel or bladder dysfunction, and each group of 10 campers has a designated nurse.
Mangin, now 20 years old and a counselor herself, loves seeing campers open up over the course of the week. “They don’t have to worry about their scars or their ostomies showing,” she says. “We try to teach the kids to be more independent, do their medical stuff by themselves, and help them get through normal daily life.”
[camp rainbow]
“Welcome to Camp Rainbow! We’ve been waiting for you, we have so many things planned for you, we can’t wait to spend a week with you!” The overwhelming love that greeted Joey Goldwasser when he arrived at Camp Rainbow thrilled the 6-year-old leukemia patient and eased the worries of his parents. “I still tear up thinking about the relief I felt,” says Cary Goldwasser, his mother.
The free camp, held in Wildwood’s Babler Memorial State Park, has hosted 3,635 young cancer patients and survivors since its founding in 1988. The summer day program serves kids ages 4 to 6, the overnight program accepts those ages 6 to 13, and a weekend getaway in March provides teenagers with their own camp experience. Three times a year, Camp Rainbow packs a van full of activities and visits children at Cardinal Glennon, Children’s and Mercy hospitals. New in 2014 will be a Labor Day family camp weekend at Trout Lodge in Potosi, Mo.
Goldwasser, a resident of Creve Coeur, was initially nervous about letting her son out of her sight. “It’s nerve-wracking enough for any parent to think about sending their child off for a week when they’re 6,” she says. “He was just diagnosed with this serious illness. We were hesitant. It was a little bit scary for us.” But the friendly atmosphere immediately dispelled her fears. “From the minute we pulled up, I could feel myself relax,” Goldwasser says. “Everyone was so welcoming. The camp staff and counselors and everybody involved, they were so perfectly geared toward kids.”
Joey even had a personal counselor, Kate Bergamini, who happened to be the daughter of his doctor. “They bonded immediately,” Goldwasser says. “She took us up to his cabin, and we see his bed packed with goodies for him: toys, things that he could play with, cards, all this Camp Rainbow gear. He was just so overwhelmed. It was such a warm feeling. He hardly even looked back.”
Joey reports that his favorite camp activity was fishing; although he had never previously used a rod and reel, he hauled in an impressive 15 fish. He also enjoyed swimming, art projects and singing songs around the campfire. His family is grateful for his wonderful Camp Rainbow experience. “It really helped him feel a lot more comfortable with his diagnosis, with the new physical limitations he was dealing with,” Goldwasser says. “He could still be a little kid and have so much fun and still experience new and amazing adventures even though he’s going through all of this.”
Most kids look forward to the freedom of summer vacation. But for children living in St. Louis’ Near Southside, a break from schoolwork can also mean a break from regular meals and a safe environment. Kingdom House works to fill that void with its seven-week summer day camp. “Our mission is to create better lives in our neighborhood area,” says executive director Scott Walker.
Camp experiences blend education with fun to keep the program’s 120 kids engaged in learning all summer long. Students ages 6 to 16 attend art, science, nutrition and fitness classes led by school teachers and Springboard instructors. They eat breakfast and lunch together and interact with older high school and college students who serve as group leaders and peer counselors. And they broaden their understanding of the city through field trips to the Science Center, The Magic House and Turtle Park. “Our young people live in a very narrow world,” Walker says. “We do a lot of field trips and activities that get them out of the neighborhood to see what’s out there. You never know what’s going to create a passion in a young person’s life and keep them motivated in school.” Many campers live within walking distance of the Gateway Arch, for example, yet during one field trip, it was revealed three-fourths of them had never visited before.
Crystal Edwards, 20, attended camp when she was 12 years old and now serves as a group leader. The kids she cares for deal with a number of challenges, she says, from the stresses of singleparent households to language barriers with their immigrant parents to neglected personal hygiene. “I live in the neighborhood,” Edwards says, “and I know if they weren’t in summer camp they would just be roaming around.” The opportunities at Kingdom House, however, ensure their summers are safe, productive and enjoyable. “At the end of the day,” Edwards says, “a lot of kids didn’t want to leave.”
By Rebecca Koenig
Pictured: Chris Parsons, Courtney Mangin, Mary Beth Akers, Mikayla Hoffman, Hannah Brockman