Not all who serve our country wear a uniform…
Deckers, Colorado, July 30-31, 2018 – Story by Kate Walters, photos by Walter Palmer & Kate Walters/American Red Cross Volunteers
At first glance, Camp Corral looks just like any other fun-in-the-sun summer camp. That’s because it is just that. Like most summer camps, this is a place for kids ages 8-15 to get a break from their typical everyday activities. They spend a week away from home, geographically distant from their daily routine in a rustic and wonderfully natural mountain environment. They hike, play tag, swim in a lake, sing camp songs; just what you would expect.
Camp Corral kids join together for “camp song” entertainment before lunch.
However, these campers are here for a very unique summer camp experience. They have the priceless opportunity to connect with other kids who understand the unique challenges that come along with military life. This week at camp is about transforming the lives of children of wounded, injured, ill, and fallen military heroes. These kids come from families where one or both of their parents have deployed in service to our country and returned a changed person. “Camp Corral is the only place I go where everyone understands me. Here, all the kids have experienced the same things I have.” said Haily, age 10. These children face unique challenges and make sacrifices beyond their years
Sue Edwards, Red Cross volunteer facilitates a group discussion.
The American Red Cross provides trained volunteers who share a curriculum designed to support the mission of Camp Corral. The Service to Armed Forces branch of the Red Cross teams up with this remarkable program throughout the summer months to provide reconnection workshops for these young campers.
Campers learn about active listening techniques.
Jo Zutell, a Red Cross volunteer and a Licensed Family Therapist from Arizona asked a group of eleven 12-year-old girls to raise their hand if they had a parent who had deployed in active service. Every young lady’s hand flew into the air. In that moment the girls looked around and saw that they were among a very special group of kids and their countenance changed. Their body language changed. They were comforted by the knowledge that they could talk about their feelings and they would be understood. That’s when they knew they shared a bond that was different than the relationships they have with non-military children. Janelle Wuest, M.S. LMHC, CMHS, from Washington and a Red Cross volunteer who works full time as a Military Family Life Counselor tells me, “The military is a totally different culture. It’s not just their mom or their dad’s job. It’s a family lifestyle”.
Janelle Wuest, Red Cross volunteer discusses military topics with campers.
As campers participate in the program they listen to stories told by their peers and learn that they are not alone; that there are other young people who have seen drastic changes in their parents upon their return from deployment. Red Cross volunteer facilitator Sue Edwards, LCSW, of Littleton, Colorado asks the group if they’ve ever heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” One young man says it means that even though his dad came back from a deployment with just one leg, he’s still the same dad he was before he left. He tells about feeling awkward and uncomfortable the first time he saw his dad. The boys nod their heads in understanding. Another shares that his dad still looks exactly the same as he did before he left but now he has to be much more careful around him. He tends to become angry about small things. Edwards offers up a communication strategy to help in this circumstance. She pulls out a giant “pause” symbol and talks about it being okay to take a break from a heated conversation and come back to the topic later. Wayne Lacey, Director of Service to Armed Forces for the Red Cross in Colorado & Wyoming, and a 25-year veteran of The U.S. Army observes, “The kids take the tools they learn here home with them and it actually helps to reduce the level of stress in their entire family. It’s a very powerful experience.” The positive effects may follow a child for a lifetime.
Jo Zutell, Red Cross volunteer with camp counselor Margot Henzler shares a communication strategy.
Camp Corral has a major impact on each child, and also on the entire family unit. The friendships that form at camp continue on long after the week spent giggling, sleeping in cabins and working Kitchen Patrol together. I am told that there is a group of families who met through their children’s camp experience several years ago and now the families meet up every year to spend a week together on vacation at the beach. One teenage boy tells me that throughout the school year he plays X-Box games online late into the night with some of his friends from camp. He says his parents actually like it when he plays because they’re Camp Corral friends.
The theme this year is “Roger That! Communication Counts: Building a deeper connection with your peers. Campers learn active listening skills, strategies that help them express their feelings and relaxation techniques. Next year’s theme will be “Operation 10-4: Confident Coping: Developing coping skills before and after a service member’s deployment as well as other issues experienced by military families such as frequent moves and community integration.
Janelle Wuest, Red Cross volunteer demonstrates a stress relieving strategy.
Members of The Red Cross volunteer team are professionals in the mental health field and act as facilitators. Some of them attend all of the camps that Red Cross supports. They are not here to offer one-on-one therapy. They are familiar with the issues that face children in military families but have a limited time to present their material. Often a child will bring up a personal topic and if it doesn’t fit into the session they are referred to an on-site Military Family Life Counselor for more discussion. Lacey says, “Without our facilitators we would have nothing. These volunteers travel across the nation because they see change in kids every year.” Jo Zutell says she comes here “because none of these support programs were available to me or my family when my husband was in the Air Force for 24 years.” Sue Edwards is very grateful for the freedoms she has, and this service is her way of saying thank you to military families. Martha Iskyan, Ph.D., LSW, LPC from Arizona is a retired mental health consultant for large international corporations. She says, “I feel privileged to be able to give back to our military families for their sacrifice to keep us safe here at home.” Janell Wuest says that as a child, her family moved every 2 years just like these kids do. “I can relate to them and share in their struggles.”
At the close of each session the facilitator says to the young people, “Thank you for your service and the sacrifice you make in supporting your family.”
Red Cross Mental Health Team celebrates a job well done.
Camp Corral first came into being in 2011 in a small town in North Carolina. The founders were surprised to receive over 300 campers that summer. Megan Ley, Director of Annual Giving says that it became very clear that there was a deep need for programs like this. Today there are 22 camps in 19 states and they serve 3,800 military children. These kids attend camp at no cost to their parents. The camp receives most of its funding from Golden Corral. The opportunity is in very high demand. For every child who attends a Camp Corral this summer there is another that remains on a waiting list.
Megan Ley of Camp Corral and Wayne Lacey of The American Red Cross enjoy the camp environment.
Wayne Lacey knew the strength of the Red Cross Reconnection Workshops. He was looking for an effective method of communicating these valuable strategies with as many military families and their children as possible. That’s when he connected with the Camp Corral representatives. In 2015 a Red Cross team was invited to a Camp Corral session at Shady Brook YMCA camp in Deckers, Colorado. That year they had the opportunity to connect with 178 campers. Three years later, the team brings its curriculum to 12 different camps and serves over 600 kids. The program has been a resounding success.
To learn more about our Service to Armed Forces program visit our web site www.redcross.org/SAF.