ABOUT
There is a joyful spirit about Camp Sunshine that is transformative for every person who participates. We promote through words and actions a culture that honors each person with total acceptance and unconditional love.
Since 1983, Camp Sunshine has offered individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities summer camp experiences in a safe, caring, and inclusive environment. We offer multiple programs designed to meet the participants’ recreational, emotional, physical, spiritual, and relational needs. Uniquely, each camper is paired one-to-one with a volunteer counselor. Camp Sunshine creates spaces for campers and volunteers to feel included, learn from each other, and grow in friendship.
There is something sacred about being part of a group where everyone is loved and accepted “just the way they are.”
Our Vision
To make the world outside of Camp Sunshine a more affirming and inclusive place by inspiring agents of change with transforming experiences and relationships.
Our Mission
To offer experiences that model and nurture a culture of inclusion, grace, and joy, through which people with and without disabilities can transcend barriers and value both their own gifts and the talents of others.
Our Values
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We commit to honoring the dignity, individuality, sufficiency, agency, and potential of each person.
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We commit to welcoming, affirming, and giving voice to persons as they are.
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We commit to building a community of compassion and understanding for all volunteers, campers, and staff members.
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We commit to patient listening, clear and authentic communication, and using our unique positions, abilities, and voices to advocate for ourselves and others.
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We commit to being open to change, transformation, and continual learning, and to providing safety and space for others to do the same.
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We commit to cultivating an environment in which our staff, board, volunteers, and participants reflect the breadth of diversity within our communities, including race, religion, ability, geography, and socio-economic status.
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We commit to engaging fully with the current reality for each person within our community, holding fast to the belief that people, organizations, and communities can and do change from day to day and year to year.
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We commit to recognizing obstacles and barriers and offering accommodations and alternatives.
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We commit to expanding accessibility as we build organizational capacity.
Belief Statement
Continually embracing inclusive love has led Camp Sunshine to welcome all faiths and traditions, developing a culture of care and affirmation for one another. Our roots, which many of our campers, staff, and volunteers share, are in the Christian tradition; we are independent of religious affiliations.
Recognizing the holy within each person is at the core of our relationships and community life at Camp Sunshine. That spirituality is foundational to our support of physical, social, and emotional growth.
We are led by our campers’ beliefs, values, and needs, inviting everyone to a broader experience. We spend time in discovery, learning from a range of spiritual traditions. The messages we share speak of love, inclusion, compassion, and care for ourselves and all creation.
