A Typical Camp Day
First, a word about our campers... their ages and challenges vary: some of them are not communicative and need lots of help with everyday tasks. Others are highly verbal and can pretty much take care of themselves.
We specialize in meeting the recreational, personal care, social, and health care needs of people with developmental disabilities. Mental retardation is the most common disability type, including Down and Angelman syndromes. Sometimes mental retardation is accompanied by neurological impairment (i.e., cerebral palsy and/or epilepsy) and/or physical disabilities. Some of our campers have autism spectrum disorders, and others may have hearing and/or visual impairments. We also serve campers who have sustained brain injury.
For counselors and lifeguards, employment begins Sunday June 1 (a week of orientation training); Area Directors start May 27 (management training). The first camper session begins Sunday, June 8, and the last day of staff employment is Sunday, August 16. For three week-long camp sessions (Adventure Weeks: 6/28;7/20;8/10), we exclusively serve campers who are higher functioning: they are verbal, continent, ambulatory, and have adaptive social skills. During Adventure Weeks, our activities include off-camp trips and other action-oriented fun. These sessions also provide our hard working staff with a break from the intensive personal care duties (camper feeding, showering, dressing, diapering, toileting, etc.) that are a core aspect of our other camp sessions.
Cabin Camping
Camp Joy consists of 58 wooded acres, a pool, dining hall, infirmary, horse corral, and other facilities. Our camp is rustic: wild deer, turkeys, and bugs enjoy their summers with us. Each of our three campsites is a cluster of cabins. Counselors and campers live together in cabins that accommodate at least three people, and bath houses are nearby. Usually, each counselor is responsible for the direct supervision and personal care of two or three campers.
Before camp opens, all staff participate in a week-long training program. We do a lot of team development activities that are both challenging and fun. We also focus on technical training: topics include disability awareness, first aid and CPR, camper care and supervision, lifting and transfer techniques, behavior management, health and safety, emergency procedures, and others.
Our residential campers are with us for a seven day, six night week (Sunday-Saturday). Before new campers arrive, the staff meets to review and discuss their care needs, interests, abilities, and behaviors. Since nearly 80% of our campers have been to Camp Joy before, we are quite familiar with them.
A Slice of Life
Wake up, sleepyhead, it's 8 a.m.! Some campers may need assistance with dressing; sometimes diapers need to be changed. Since breakfast awaits everyone at the dining hall, that's our destination, but first, a non-ambulatory camper requires a transfer to her wheelchair. Now we help her by pushing the chair. Paved paths throughout Camp Joy ensure efficient wheelchair travel.
Breakfast is served! Since some campers need help with feeding, counselors receive training in special positioning and feeding techniques. During meals, a camp nurse administers medications. After breakfast, announcements are made and the day's activities are previewed.
Daily activities are varied and include swimming, arts and crafts, wilderness, horseback riding, nature, music/performing arts, and recreation. During these activities, campers are grouped by ability level, and Program Directors are in charge. Counselors are responsible for supervising campers, participating in the activity, and ensuring that the campers are having a good and safe time.
After lunch, there are more activities (including swimming!), but there's also "siesta time" for relaxation: storytelling, camper naps, letter writing, drawing, or some other chill-out activity. Counselors help campers with showers, tidying up the cabins, and laundry. As the afternoon winds down, everyone starts getting ready for dinner.
Chow time! After the steak and wine (no, just kidding...), everyone heads back to the campsite to prepare for the big camp-wide activity. It might be a dance, campfire, parachute games, talent show, carnival, live concert, olympics night, aquatics festival, etc. Usually, the Program Directors are in charge of these events, but counselors also help out a lot and sometimes lead them.
When the evening activity is over, everyone's tired, but the staff's job is not done. Campers may need some help getting ready for bed, including some personal care tasks. If a camper has trouble getting to sleep, the counselor provides gentle, reassuring support.
Day is Done
Each night, between 9:30 and 1:00 a.m., several assigned counselors monitor each campsite (Night Watch); the other staff take a break. Some staff may go on a camp-sponsored van trip to shop, bowl, see a movie, get some pizza, etc. Other staff relax on the camp grounds and provide back-up coverage in the event of an emergency. All staff are required to be in their bunks by 1:00 a.m. Since the days are so long for the staff, they rarely have difficulty falling asleep!
Time off is really important for staff because the workday is long and the responsibilities are both challenging and tiring. This summer, the entire staff will be off from (every) Saturday noon until Sunday noon. We strongly encourage staff to leave camp during time off since getting away provides the best rest.
Next Steps for Job Seekers
Go to Available Jobs to review job openings and salaries. At the bottom of that page, you can click to the on-line Job Application: after you submit it, we'll call you.
Questions? Contact Us or give us a call [610.754.6878].
