Supporting the Needs of Every Child

I debated a long time if Olive was ready to go to overnight camp or not. Olive is deaf and uses cochlear implants to access sound and language. She was only 8, she was not going with a friend and she would have a huge responsibility in managing her cochlear implant equipment away from home. Would she be scared? Would she get the support she needed with her hearing loss? Would she make friends? Would she have fun?!

I had a handful of very communicative conversations with the Camp Director prior to making any decision to send her. He assured me it would not be a problem to help with Olive’s hearing equipment at night, around the water, overnight camping, whitewater river rafting. This is not only extremely expensive equipment but vital for Olive to access sound and communication. After my conversations with the Director and meeting Olive’s counselors, I felt completely confident the staff would take care of Olive and support her to independently manager her hearing equipment.

Olive came home after Colorado Mountain Camp and was a truly a different child. Her confidence and maturity was unbelievable! She felt very independent and was beaming when I met her on pickup day. Her growth trickled into our family life as well. With her new maturity she interacted with her younger brother differently and the sibling dynamics of our family greatly improved! I did not foresee this level of growth and maturity. Additionally, I would not have been able to send Olive to Avid4 without the generous scholarship made available to our family.

This program delivers everything it claims, and the staff make this camp stand out above the rest.   I am very grateful to Avid4 and to those who donate making financial support to families possible.  Avid4 is a tremendous program and is directly impacting my child’s life and my family. I know Olive is already looking forward to another Colorado Mountain Camp adventure next summer!