Creation vacation: brings low-income families to camp

Camping Magazine, May, 2002 by Ann Fullerton, Ted Hulbert, Paul Pierson, Jennifer Waldorf, Annie Calhoun

When reflecting on our formative years, most of us remember family vacations, picnics, and camping trips as important to family recreation, relationships, and memories. Increasingly, people are enjoying outdoor activities. Easily overlooked are the many low-income families without the financial or transportation means to make such experiences possible.

Since 1997, Camp Magruder, a United Methodist ministry on the north Oregon coast, has sponsored a program called Creation Vacation, providing gift four-day vacations to families living in low-income housing. Hosting seventeen families the first year, by 2000 the program had grown to two sessions, serving forty-nine families (194 persons) from Portland and Salem, Oregon. The participating families have given many positive reports about the benefits of relaxed recreation time in the midst of the natural setting.

The camp staff works with community social workers to recruit, screen, and prepare families for the camp experience. Families were selected to attend based on several criteria: (1) parent/guardian and children lived together in the community and would attend the camp together: (2) if applicable, family members were in recovery and not currently experiencing active addiction or abuse; and (3) family members were viewed by the community social workers as interested in a family camp experience. Thus, the families who attended were not necessarily representative of the housing community as a whole The families meet during the spring with their social worker and the camp director to plan and prepare for the vacation -- families offer input regarding activities and logistics. Bus and van transportation is provided. At camp, the families each have their own room and are provided wholesome meals and snacks, recreation and craft activity options, insurance, a disposable camera and film development, and bedding and per sonal items needed to make the vacation possible. The families engage in a variety of activities, including swimming, boating, beach play, donkey rides, variety show, campfires, crafts for all ages, hikes, and watching sunsets.

Volunteers, known as family friends, are recruited from churches and the camp community Each family friend is paired with one or two families. They welcome and orient the families upon arrival, guide activity participation, build friendships, and assist with children so that parents get both respite and one-on-one time with different family members.

The cost has been approximately $500 per family. The camp director has raised funds from foundations, individuals, churches, and the camp's business suppliers. In 2000, the cost of meals for the children was partly covered by the USDA Summer Food Service Program for low-income children.

To guide program design and to explore the possible outcomes for participants of the camp experience, Camp DirectorTed Hulbert contacted Portland State University Professor Ann Fullerton to conduct an outcomes study of the July 2000 session. The director, community social worker, professor, and students met to determine the study questions, methods for gathering and analyzing the data, and roles each could play in this process. This collaborative effort allowed the team to pool resources and conduct an outcome study at little cost. The camp and housing community staff assisted with data collection and preparation, and the university provided data analysis and written reports.

Methods

Study questions

Family camping programs have been associated with improved family bonds and relationships (Hawks, 1991). Programs that bring members of low-income communities together can foster greater community cohesiveness (Stagner & Duran, 1997). The team was interested in three possible outcomes of the camp experience.

1. Did families experience outcomes related to the natural setting and outdoor activities?

2. Did families experience outcomes in the area of family relationships (e.g., connection, quality time together)?

3. Did members of a low-income housing community experience outcomes in the area of community building (e.g., meet one's neighbors, more cohesive community)?

To explore the outcomes from multiple perspectives, both the families and the volunteers were interviewed at the end of the camp experience. In order to explore whether the experience was associated with any changes after the families returned to their homes and communities, the families completed a survey five months later.

Participants

Families were asked if they wished to participate in the study. It was stressed that families were free to decline participation, with no repercussions to their involvement in the camp experience. The procedures used to ensure confidentiality were also described. Nineteen or 70 percent of the twenty-seven families agreed to be interviewed and complete the survey. The family friends were asked to interview the families and to interview each other at the end of the vacation experience, all of the family friends agreed to participate.