Youth Build Skills, Friendships at REACH Camp

by Katy Pasini
Sierra Health Foundation

For four days this past summer, 67 youth from the capital region left the city behind to enjoy the outdoors at Grizzly Creek Ranch in Plumas County.

Sponsored by Sierra Health Foundation’s REACH youth program, the “REACH Us Camp at Grizzly Creek” from July 30 to Aug. 2 provided an opportunity for youth and adults from the seven REACH Community Action coalitions to strengthen relationships and partnerships, learn new skills, and create meaningful youth-adult connections.

In addition to camp activities like fishing, hiking, swimming, kayaking, archery and evening campfires, youth participated in workshops such as Flavor of a Leader, Policy Like a Rock Star and The Real World: Action Planning with Coalitions. The workshops for each day focused on themes of team building, leadership, youth voice and action planning.

The campers also challenged themselves on the Grizzly Creek Ranch ropes course, a series of obstacles made of rope and cable designed to build self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment, individually and as part of a team. The young people worked through fear and frustration in attempting to complete the challenges. After the ropes sessions, camp leaders and adult chaperones began to see a positive difference in many of the youth, which carried over into the workshops and other activities.

This was the first camp experience for some of the youth, who live in the communities of El Dorado Hills, Galt, Meadowview, Rancho Cordova, South Sacramento, West Sacramento and Woodland. The camp brought young people from different backgrounds together, giving them a chance to learn about each other. Instead of assigning youth to cabins and work groups with their coalition members, camp leaders mixed it up so the young people would get to know new people. By the end of the week, many new friendships had been made across the coalitions.

Making those new friendships was one of the highlights for campers, as were the individual and team skills they gained from the camp activities. In a survey after the camp, one participant stated, “I learned about being a leader and how to understand each other.” Another said, “It will make me more able to participate, put forth ideas and take action.”

The four days at Grizzly Creek Ranch had a positive impact on the campers, as seen at the closing gatherings where youth shared heartfelt emotions about their experiences at camp.

For some, it also was just a lot of fun. When asked what she liked best about the REACH camp, Noemi from the Cordova Community Collaborative said, “I like the friends I’m making. There’s lots of teamwork and I like the outdoors.”

“I like all of the opportunities to step up and be the leader,” said Timmy, a ninth-grader from Galt. “It’s an opportunity to show everybody we can do what they thought we could.”

See the REACH Camp photo gallery.

Grizzly Creek Ranch is a program of Sierra Health Foundation. Learn more about the camp on the Grizzly Creek Ranch Web site. Visit the Sierra Health Foundation Web site.