OPEN DOORS – EXPANDING ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSION

Funding Options for Camp Accessibility and Inclusion

POINTS TO PONDER

  • Involve your board – the camp director should not have to do this alone.
  • If you don’t already have one, create a district-wide “Friends of Camp _____” organization to help with fund raising.
  • Remember that many people believe strongly in church camping, and money follows people’s passions, even in tight economies.
  • Also remember that many accommodations do not require extra funding, but rather rethinking how and where activities take place.
  • Acknowledge donors with a thank you letter, a plaque, a mention in your newsletter, an article in the local paper or coverage by local TV.

FUND-RAISING IDEAS

  • Partner with your conference Disability Concerns committee to promote celebrating Disability Awareness Sunday in local churches and taking an offering for accessibility. The church can retain 50% of the funds, and send the other 50% through the Conference Treasurer, designated for camp accessibility.
  • Involve the conference Disability Concerns committee with completing an accessibility audit of the camp and prioritizing projects. That way they will be committed to the projects and able to help promote fund raising and awareness.
  • Suggest that local church VBS or church school programs focus on disability awareness and pick a specific camp accessibility need for their fund-raising project. Have the kids help come up with how they will raise the funds, and invite the class/program to a dedication when the project is completed.
  • Recruit local churches to adopt and upgrade a feature, like a room or a cabin or a bathhouse.
  • Schedule a work “camp” before the camp season and invite people to help get the camp ready – Minnesota lists these camps in their full annual camping brochure.
  • Host a “Back to Camp” day at camp – include lunch, recreation, worship, and an offering.
  • Request that local or conference-level UMM groups plan a work weekend to complete specific projects. Have the workers raise funds for materials in their home churches.
  • Develop a “catalog” of potential Eagle Scout projects. Contact church-sponsored Scout troops. The projects often include fund raising or procuring donations for materials as well as the actual construction of the structure of feature.
  • If your camp is used year round by schools or other entities who receive federal funding, they are required to hold their programs in accessible facilities. Approach them about partnering to bring your camp up to ADA standards.
  • Host a camp for kids who have a specific diagnosis, e.g. muscular dystrophy, if you have basically accessible facilities. The sponsoring organization can attract additional funding for further modifications through in-kind donations and services, e.g. from Lowes or other building suppliers.
  • Suggest that part of local church UMW campership funds be designated to pay for expenses of support staff and accommodations needed for specific campers. Suggest they tithe the funds raised and share with churches with fewer resources.
  • Plan a project and research how to become a designated Conference Advance Special.
  • Initiate a Conference or District capital funds campaign for camp improvements, and incorporate accessibility features and modifications into all construction.
  • Involve a local service club – Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, Junior League often take on service projects, and would especially enjoy supporting camp outreach efforts.
  • Approach major individual donors within the district for sponsorship of a specific project – pastors should be able to provide names of persons who might be interested.
  • Research local options for accommodations. Some services, like replicating print materials in Braille, may be available for free through local non-profit service providers.
  • Have a local church host a bazaar or an auction- for their own church or a cluster of churches – don’t forget the silent auction. Offer a weekend camp stay as one item to be auctioned.
  • Encourage local churches or districts to sponsor fundraising dinners, box socials, dinner theater evenings, talent shows, etc. with the proceeds split between camperships and camp accessibility improvements.
  • Host a night at a sporting event or play – the proceeds beyond costs go to the camp.
  • Develop a camp cookbook to sell throughout the conference.
  • Expand your usual T-shirt sales to local churches and Annual Conference sessions.
  • Request donations of new or nearly new shower benches, hand-held showers, or grab bars – items which were purchased for home use but never used.
  • Borrow items needed for a single session, e.g. see if vendors might loan things like a portable ramp, beach access chair, or an assistive listening system. See if the Conference or a church within the conference has the equipment you need. Explore options for renting equipment.
  • Some camps for older campers with developmental disabilities who live in group homes request that support staff attend with the campers and that the agency pay for the cost of staff meals and expenses.
  • Recruit a volunteer with a personal golf cart to assist with transportation on hilly and lengthy trails if needed.
  • Ask parents for ideas about where to get equipment, and have campers bring items they need from home.

ARTICLES AND RESOURCES

Funding Accessibility Projects: In Search of the Money Tree, by Amy Shrake, National Center on Accessibility. The article includes information on grants as well as many other options.

Push America: They solicit grant requests and provide materials grants and a large group of construction volunteers specifically for camps that offer programs for persons with disabilities. This is a project of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity nationwide. See and

Compiled by Lynn Swedberg, United Methodist Task Force on Disability Ministries