Yachad has partnered with two leading Jewish camp programs, one near Toronto and one in New Hampshire where individuals with special needs will be given educational and social experiences with full inclusion in the camps. Registration is now in progress.
The shadow program will be held at Camp Yavneh in Northwood, New Hampshire (Sunday, July 19–Thursday, August 13, 2015) for children ages 8–14, and the vocational program for adults will be held at Camp Moshava Ennismore (Tuesday, June 30–Tuesday, August 11, 2015). The two programs join 20 others run by Yachad at mainstream camps.
Yachad, the flagship agency of the Orthodox Union’s National Jewish Council for Disabilities (NJCD), provides unique social, educational, and recreational programs for individuals with learning, developmental, and physical disabilities with the goal of their inclusion in the total life of the Jewish community.
The Yachad shadow program at Camp Yavneh–which is an hour and thirty minutes from Boston (75 miles) and five hours from the New York area (almost 300 miles)–will have the support of trained, highly motivated staff who will be placed with Yachad members in mainstream campers’ bunkhouses. Each day, the Yachad campers will be included in camp activities such as swimming, boating, sports, arts and crafts, drama, learning, and much more together with their mainstream peers. Enabling special friendships within their bunk and with other children throughout the camp, the Yachad shadow program at Yavneh is a complete camping experience focusing on the development of social skills, and fostering self-esteem and independence within a safe and secure environment.
Camp Moshava Ennismore–nearly 70 miles and less than two hours from Toronto–will allow adults with special needs, ages 22–30, to work for either four or the full eight weeks of the camp season. With the guidance of a job coach, vocational workers will be given assignments based upon interest and skill level, among them assisting within specialty fields such as arts and crafts, baking, canteen, day camp, or sports. In addition, Yachad will provide social programming for all staff.
“The Yachad programs make a huge impact on the camp since every child gets the opportunity to understand his/her peers with special needs,” said Nechama Braun, Yachad’s administrator of summer programs. “It is really incredible how those who worked as Yachad counselors when we began our first program 16 years ago at Camp Morasha in Lake Como, PA, are now leaders and board members of their synagogues hosting Yachad programs in their communities.”
“Ennismore program director Vicky Shizgal approached us some time ago looking to formalize the arrangement of a special needs program through Yachad. We’re happy we’re here for both camps,” she concluded.
For more information and to register for the Yachad partnership programs, contact [email protected] or call 212-613-8369.
