Purpose

In today’s society, we often measure progress in buildings constructed or dollars made.  However, the ultimate value of any project we undertake at Valley Youth House is measured in “lives changed”.  This creed was the primary purpose of launching such an ambitious Capital Campaign to fund the Camp and we believe that countless lives will be changed for the better as a result.  

We are committed to success and remain confident that Camp Fowler and the many therapeutic tools the site affords us, will benefit the children, youth and families served by Valley Youth House as well as greatly benefiting all the children of our communities for many years to come.  

Camp Fowler will provide all the fun of an outdoor camp in addition of state of the art trust and challenge-based adventure experiences designed as recreational therapy interventions that focus upon social-skill building and awareness, address stress management techniques and positive health maintenance, provide methods resulting in symptom reductions and community integration activities.

 The potentials of these strategies in a therapeutic environment are immeasurable. They include:

§         Increased personal confidence and self-esteem

§         More effective organizational and communication skills

§         Deeper understanding, respect and awareness of other group members

§         Enhanced mutual trust and support for each other

§         Ability to work cooperatively to achieve goals

§         Transference of new skills, insights and objectives into home and classroom settings.

Project Development

Achieving our vision of developing Camp Fowler into a center for excellence in therapeutic recreation and adventure therapy is well on the way to becoming an exciting reality for the children and youth of the Lehigh Valley. .

 Planning for the completion of three major projects continues and, thanks to a dynamic and flourishing capital campaign, it looks as if our vision of a new Bath House, Swimming Pool and Adventure Building will also become a reality during 2007 and early 2008. 

 Significant upgrades to the camp were achieved in 2006.  We are extremely excited about the replacement of low adventure elements and the addition of the high adventure elements, which include a climbing wall, cargo nets and a zip line.  The adventure elements will allow us to offer valuable new challenge-based programs in 2007.  We also completed the rehabilitation of the Disc Golf Course and improved access to hiking trails with the addition of bridges and tee boxes.   The work and generosity of numerous volunteers, representing a number of different affiliations has been a wonderful part of the development of Camp Fowler to date.

Camp Activities in 2006

Although our use of the camp is constrained until our construction projects are completed, Camp Fowler was a very exciting place to be in 2006. Our counselors and therapists made active use of the camp for hiking, fishing, adventure therapy, and group activities.  A total of 450 different children made use of the camp over the course of the year.

We are very excited about the potential for our adventure elements and their use as a therapeutic tool.  A menu of programs will be offered to help our kids develop trust, team-building and problem solving skills.  As groups master the adventure elements they also develop increased self-confidence and self esteem.  During 2006 ten of our staff members received extensive training and certification as Adventure Counselors to assure that the adventure equipment will be used safely and to maximum effect.  

Community Group Outreach

 As a first step in our commitment to make the camp available to other community groups that serve at-risk children, sixty-five developmentally challenged children from the Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Unit attended Camp Fowler for five weeks.

Over the course of the year the camp was used for a number of other activities as well, including as a site for training of staff and others:  Among the functions held at the camp in 2006:  

• VYH Staff Retreat

• Autistic Family Nights

• PATHS Family Weekend

• Youth Leadership Institute

• Psycho Drama Workshops

• Youth Basketball Camp

• Child Mentor Birthday Party

• Staff Competency Training

• Rugby Team Building Retreat

• Red Cross Training – First Aid for Youth

• Youth Advisory Board Regional Meeting

• Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Team Building

• Independent Living Program Thanksgiving Dinner

• Independent Living & Child Mentor Program Banquets

• Hispanic American League of Artists Regional Training

• Individualized VYH Outdoor Counseling and Therapy Sessions

Capital Campaign Progress

2006 saw considerable progress in developing the funding required for the physical development of the camp and to assure its long-term financial stability.  In July we increased our campaign goal from $5.5 million to $6 million.  The additional funding was required because of rising construction costs and because new program opportunities required modest enhancements of the scope of the project.

 $5.5 million has already been committed to the campaign and we entered 2007 with increasing confidence that we will achieve our $6 million goal during the year.  The awarding of prestigious Kresge grant has the potential to bring us an additional $200,000 if we can meet the challenges of raising an additional $500,000.

We recognize that we have achieved our success to date because of the support of large segments of the community. However, it is very clear that we will not meet our target goals without the full support of the entire community.  We are working hard to earn that support.

Valley Youth House wants to recognize our many generous donors who have agreed to support “The Campaign for Camp Fowler ”.  We also want to thank the members of our Campaign Team who have given so generously of their time and energy in supporting the vision of creating a first class therapeutic camp for our area’s young people.  We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and supporters.