More than summer season enjoyable: Camp Bright Horizons helps children with incarcerated mother and father

HELENA — At Carroll College, Camp Bright Horizons is bringing collectively kids from throughout Lewis and Clark County who share a novel expertise — having a mum or dad who’s incarcerated. Organizers say the purpose is larger than only a week of summer season enjoyable.

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More than summer season enjoyable: Camp Bright Horizons helps children with incarcerated mother and father

From enjoying soccer with the Carroll ladies’s soccer crew to scavenger hunts, portray, and collage making, campers are getting an opportunity to simply be children. Behind the video games and actions is a deeper mission — breaking the cycle of household involvement within the justice system.

Evan Charney, MTN News

“We want to ensure that kiddos who have system-involved parents don’t end up in the system themselves,” mentioned Lewis and Clark County Department of Criminal Justice Services Director Kellie Goodwin McBride.

The camp was created by a partnership between the county and Carroll College, taking inspiration from comparable applications in different states.

Evan Charney, MTN News

Carroll College stepped in after making use of to assist host this system — saying the work intently aligns with its mission and values.

Five Carroll sociology and criminology college students are serving as counselors- hand-picked for his or her expertise working with children, however most significantly, their upstanding character.

“We invited students to apply who we knew had the attributes, and skills and background that we were looking for in our camp counselors,” Carroll sociology and criminology chair Jamie Dolan mentioned, “and we have got the cream of the crop. We are so thrilled. They’re here because they want to be here.”

Evan Charney, MTN News

While the camp solely lasts two days, counselors say the connections they’ve constructed with campers have come rapidly.

“Kids love putting stickers on me,” declared senior Jon Smith. “They’ve put about eight or nine of them on me. By now, I’ve become their personal water bottle.”

“I feel like these kids are almost like friends to us already,” mentioned junior Kortlan Nelson. “One of the kiddos said he wanted to be my friend, and I was like ‘absolutely best friends’, friends for life now.”

Evan Charney, MTN News

“I feel like we have made a difference, just giving them a space to let the kids be kids and not have to worry about anything else is amazing,” mentioned senior Chloe Gullikson.

“I like to keep high energy,” Smith mentioned. “I like to get down on their level and squat down, talk face to face with them, be able to just let them know that they’re safe and secure here, and that if they need anything, we’re there for them.”

Organizers say after the camp ends, they plan to work with the youngsters and households month-to-month to supply help and sources, and that the group can anticipate to see the camp return for years to return.

“Just partnering together, the county, Carroll College, and the community, we can do great things,” Goodwin McBride mentioned.