Hospital Camps
Since 2011, we have been transforming playrooms and hallways into day camp environments at children’s hospitals around South Carolina. With games, arts and crafts, volunteers, music, and more, we provide a fun break from the mundane routine children and siblings face during hospital stays. The camp keeps their minds off their treatments for that moment in time, giving them a lasting cherished memory. Since the beginning of our program we have served over 1,700 children with a wide variety of illnesses through our hospital camp programs.
Hospital Camps
In-Hospital Camps have always been a foundational piece of programming at Camp Rise Above! This is our most consistent program that allows for CRA to serve children beyond the summer months and in multiple locations across the state.
Why Camp Matters
When a child is faced with a serious life-threatening emergency and they’re admitted into the hospital, they lack their typical routines that foster development and allow them to just be a kid! Children who face critical illnesses typically have more frequent and longer stays. The consequences of a long-term stay often include acquired weakness, decreased functional recovery, neurocognitive decline and caregiver burden. In a hospital staff survey, respondents reported that children need emotional support, coping strategies and distractions from treatment.
Camp is an exciting and common tradition that helps build many skills such as teamwork, resiliency, and independence. Our program targets peer socialization, increasing the child’s comfort and providing a meaningful camp experience, regardless of physical ability.
Camp Rise Above’s mission is to bridge the benefits found in camping experiences to the needs of children and families within the inpatient pediatric setting.
