S’mores and So Much More
For one week in August, a group of 101 teens, ages 12 to 15, living in temporary housing had the time of their lives as they learned important lessons about themselves and their developing bodies and minds.
This year, Camp Rise Up, The Floating Hospital’s sleep-away camp on the eastern edge of the Catskills, had its largest group yet. Those attending were divided into different levels of life skills courses that campers build on year-after-year.
For eight years, the camp has provided participants a week of respite from the city and their often turbulent lives. Research shows that unhoused teens are at greater risk of unhealthy behaviors, and the camp is designed to help them better navigate the unique challenges they face.
“We educate and nurture the whole teenager, making sure they have self-esteem and they are empowered to make healthy decisions and lead really successful, healthy lives,” said Dr. Meghan Miller, our director of health education who designed the program.
“All of the things we learn at camp you don’t really learn in school,” said Osaze, one of this year’s campers. “The social roles, the boys, the girls thing. I take in all the information I get at camp, I bring it home and I put it into perspective in my life.”
Rashelly, who has attended CRU for three years, noted, “We struggle a lot. We have a lot of stuff in the city in our minds. When we come here, we don’t have to worry about it. We have fun, chill. I like coming here, it makes me feel better.”
It was a sunny and cool late-August week on the lake, but that didn’t stop campers from enjoying activities such as boating, fishing, hiking and zip-lining as well as camp fires and other mountain adventures. In the classrooms, they learned how to build self-esteem, take care of themselves physically and emotionally, test their capabilities and see hope in their futures, while acquiring essential skills to take them through adulthood.
On August 24 at our main clinic, volunteers sorted gear and helped the campers load up their backpacks with new sneakers, socks, hoodies, towels, blankets, hygiene kits and other gear. After a pizza lunch, the kids boarded buses and headed north for their first night in nature.
In July, the health education department held its second year of SOAR, a one-week day camp where the first year of lessons are conducted entirely in Spanish. It is designed to prepare kids who are not yet fluent in English for future enrollment in CRU’s second year, when their English proficiency is advanced enough to ensure their safety there. This year, 16 teens joined SOAR.
New this year was a pilot program called Journey, a three-day camp for pre-teens that prepares younger students for CRU. A group of 20 kids, aged 10-11, came to our clinic for lessons in the morning on topics like self-esteem, communication, bullying, healthy living and puberty. In the afternoon, they found adventure within the city’s own boroughs, such as the flying trapeze in Manhattan, a ninja course in Brooklyn and the beach in Queens. The SOAR campers had similar afternoon activities.
Zaraya, who is 10, said at Journey she learned that “if someone says to you ‘you're ugly or you're this and that,’ if you have a good mindset inside… you don't have to believe them. I already know who I am.” Eleven-year-old Dante said he would recommend the camp to his friends. “Everybody here, they're really understanding. There are people who are also going through the same thing as you. So if you're struggling, some people might be able to help you. . . . And the teachers are awesome.”
For all of the camps, generous donors provided clothing, gear and personal care items and stock for our camp “stores,” where tickets for good behavior could be exchanged for treats, trinkets, toys and even valuable electronics.
The kids who joined us are grateful to those who made their weeks so extraordinary and even life changing. We’d like to thank our sponsors and donors, present and past — including Arabella Advisors for an anonymous donor, NewYork-Presbyterian, the Wolf Family Foundation, Soles4Souls, Good Sports and 4imprint — as well as our volunteers, whose efforts every year make this undertaking possible.
We are also grateful to the dedicated and tireless Floating Hospital staff members, who served as instructors and counselors, providing indispensable lessons and unforgettable activities. CRU and its offshoots could not have happened without all of their contributions.