04/22/2020
“Sleeping under the stars at summer camp is a familiar experience for many, but not for Ryan. The lanky teen was still adjusting to life at Camp HOPE America, the first summer camp established specifically for children exposed to domestic violence.
On this particular day in late July, he was one of 60 campers who ranged in age from 11 to 17. Although each child had his or her own unique history, the themes of their short lives overlapped: stress, fear, trauma, pain.
They grew up in homes where they watched men beat their mothers, and homes where they were beaten for trying to intervene. As children, they learned to navigate a type of violence that’s unpredictable and ever-present, compounded by mental health issues, neglect, drugs and poverty.
But for now they were away from all that, at a sleepaway camp here in northern California in a forest of almost 2 million acres, with a bunch of strangers who were just like them – survivors. Half of them were Camp HOPE America veterans, having attended two or three times before. The rest were first-timers like Ryan.”
For more of the story visit: https://www.camphopeamerica.org/children-saw-much/
