Camp Courage, in the wilds of Minnesota, is a place for every ability to learn and have fun.
By Tiffiny Carlson
Garrison Keillor had it right when he said Minnesota was a land unto itself. With its 10,000 lakes and abundance of untouched forests, it’s the kind of place where a storyteller can close his eyes and conjure a whole world out of the imagination. And that’s kind of what Courage Center, a physical rehabilitation center in the Twin Cities, did when it imagined and then realized Camp Courage in 1955 as the ultra-accessible environment for people with disabilities.
Since its inception, Camp Courage has been a staple of summer fun for folks with disabilities of all ages and ability levels in the Upper-Midwest. It has two locations-one an hour away from Minneapolis on Maple Lake, the other near the Canadian border on Lake George. One of the unique things about Camp Courage is the multitude of sessions it provides. They also allow their cabins to be rented through the end of August until the beginning of next camping season.
The camps offered sessions include:
- • Sickle Cell and Siblings camp
• Hemophilia camp
• Asthma camp
• Sports camp
• MD camp
• MS camp
• College Preview camp
• Deaf camp
• Cancer camp
• 45+ camp
• 7-12 camp
• 13-17 camp
• Augmentative Communication camp
• 18+ camp
• Outdoor Leadership camp
• Asperger’s Syndrome camp
• Amateur Radio camp
• Literacy Camp
• Speech Day Camp, plus two-week residential session
Camp Courage strives to make “normal” camp activities-such as horseback riding, water skiing, fishing, and boating-a possibility for all campers. Kids and adults who want to try tent camping can. Most sessions offer a two-day getaway, complete with counselors to assist, where you can go out and sleep under the stars on a nearby lake island. If you’re more of the hotel type, you can stay in the new circular cedar cabins, outfitted with gigantic wheelchair-friendly bathrooms and a common room, that are just a roll away (via a paved path in the woods) from the beach.
Life Changing
What Camp Courage is known for, however, is not just the amazing accommodations, but the enormous effect it’s had on its campers’ lives. Many people, myself included, have had profound, life-changing experiences at Camp Courage, where they leave with a completely different perspective on life. I was a 16- year-old girl who had been a C-6 quadriplegic for only two years, and my mother literally forced me to sign up for camp. I vividly remember bawling my eyes out as she left, feeling hopelessly abandoned. When I had my first dinner in the main hall later that evening, however, I realized that camp held some promise.
I sat across from a blind girl, Gina, who was 4 years younger than me. After getting to know her over a dinner of grilled cheese and tomato soup, she revealed that she was adopted by a family in Minnesota after being abandoned on the wayside of a road in rural India. Most important to me at the time, I discovered she was a Camp Courage expert.
Since my injury, I had known only rejection by my peers. Gina quickly showed me that I could make genuine friends with people who could relate to my experience. Had I never gone to camp, who knows when this would have happened? I became friends with several other campers in the following days. The sense of community at camp had showed me a way out of depression.
My first session at Camp Courage was filled with swimming, socializing, nighttime bonfires, late night card games, and computer lessons. I attended the College Preview Camp, in which professors from the University of Washington set up a computer lab in one of the larger cabins and teach campers the basics of computer use, how to approach professors about disability accommodations they might need, and at the end of the session, take campers on a tour of a local university. (Check out this past year’s College Preview session by going to www.couragecamps.org/sessionpages/collegepre v2006/index.html.)
At the end of camp, I was exhausted, yet stimulated and brimming with new social outlets. I even ended up with a boyfriend.
Happy Campers
Kate Bigalk, from Lacrosse, Wisconsin, is a 27-year-old college graduate with cerebral palsy. She grew up going to Camp Courage thanks to her mother’s urging. “The first time I went to Camp Courage I was around eight years old; probably went to the 7-12 year old session,” she says. “When you first arrive, the thing that really stands out about Camp Courage is how vast it is. It really is a huge ‘complex.’”
Bigalk’s favorite camp activities were swimming in the pool, the nature center/library, the photography building and dark room, the gym with the ramp going up to the second floor, and the counselors. “The wackier the counselors were, the more enjoyable it was for us campers,” she says. “I also loved how the camp had a program that allowed people from other countries to be counselors.”
Some of my favorite Camp Courage memories involved the clan of goofy counselors as well. I vividly remember Hawaiian Night, where we grilled steaks outside instead of eating in the cafeteria, and my favorite counselor (Cale) had dressed up in a long-haired red wig and a lei. The night was just a blast.
Camp Courage wants everyone interested in attending camp to be able to. To make this happen, they accept campers on an eligibility basis, not on their ability to pay. The average cost for a day at camp is $186.50. To offset costs, the administration suggests checking if your insurance company will cover the costs. If they won’t, they recommend requesting a donation from your local Rotary or Lions club, or setting up a payment schedule.
A special spirit has helped make Camp Courage a magical place where great things can happen. From the activities that extend your abilities into realms you’ve never thought possible to finally realizing there are people out there who know what it’s like to be you, Camp Courage provides a priceless experience in one of the most beautiful places in the country.
Tiffiny Carlson is a frequent contributor to Action. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
