Matt – Closing Of The Camps – I locked the doors on the last day.

Name: Matt
From: MN

I was there at the end of Hope Center – I locked the doors on the last day.

I was at the meetings to discuss the possible saving of the wilderness camps. There were many reasons Hope Center closed the wilderness camps. Government funding changes was the main stated reason but there was also mismanagement at the board level, selfishness, a changing understanding of what “wilderness therapy” could be, more complicated “clients”, liability concerns, increased regulatory pressure, ineffective hiring (and firing) practices, a lack of long term planning.

The list is long and not everyone would agree with my perspective but I think I had a fairly clear vantage point during the 2 – 3 months it took to close the camps. Closing may have been inevitable and so blame / fault aren’t useful.

Three years after Hope Center closed the wilderness camps the Salesmanship Camp closed due to similar pressures. I think the Salesmanship Camp was used as a model to develop Hope Center’s programs – they have great funding but didn’t keep the camp open.

There are still some Hope Center type camps around the country. I visited one surviving camp a couple of years ago in New Jersey – complete with Chuckwagons, Chiefs, circle ups, pow wows…

The wilderness camps had a nice long run and everyone involved can be proud to have been part of such a caring place that provided a defining experience for so many – staff and residents.

Added: October 17, 2008