Camp Oportunity Annual Report 2018

ANNUAL REPORT 2018 Camp Opportunity

breaking the cycle of abuse & neglect one child at a time

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

03

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

04

THE NEED

06

WHY WE ARE DIFFERENT

07

OUR PROGRAMS

08

IN THE FUTURE

11

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

12

WHERE MONEY GOES

15

OUR SUPPORTERS & FUNDERS

16

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

In 2018, Camp Opportunity celebrated its 34th year of service to abused and neglected children living in Baltimore and Central Maryland — an accomplishment made more noteworthy by the fact that we are an organization run completely by volunteers. This was my 20th camp and 15th consecutive year as a board member. Every year and every one-on-one relationship we build brings the chance for a counselor to uplift a child and make a profound difference in their life. If we meet our goal of 64 campers in 2019 (our 35th year!), it will mark a huge achievement of filling every spot in our current campground to serve a deserving child. This year we celebrate the memory of Bill Pennington, our co-founder and recent Executive Director. He has left us with his dream and his trust to carry out the legacy of Camp Opportunity. The need in our community continues to be great and local agencies have asked that we serve more children. To grow beyond 64 children towards the goal of serving 100 then 1000 and beyond, we must take a big leap. We must identify, purchase, and develop a campground of our own. We cannot do this without generous friends. One such person, an anonymous donor, has granted us the gift of purchasing a campground on our behalf. To earn this gift, we must raise funds and build our operations team to develop, maintain, and make this a special facility serving the thousands of abused and neglected children in Maryland. I hope you will agree that now is the time to make this dream come true. Join me in giving the gift of camp to children in our community who need it most. Give amazing and unforgettable experiences to children whose prior experiences are filled with tragedy and trauma. Give them wonderful memories that will last a lifetime. Thank you!

DAN DUTROW Executive Director

Dan Dutrow, Executive Director

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS ROGER HAYDEN, Chair Former Baltimore County Executive MISSY TEAGUE, Vice Chair Merritt Companies DANIEL BROH-KAHN, Treasurer Six Sided Simulations

DIRECTORS DANIEL DUTROW, Executive Director Protenus DARLENE WALDT, Program Director Darlene Waldt LCSW-C, LLC

ZIYAN DING, Secretary Whiteford, Taylor & Preston

MEMBERS PATTY BALLINGER Harford County Public Schools TYRONE BULLOCK Clergy JOHN GONTRUM Whiteford, Taylor & Preston JIM JOHNSON Former Baltimore County Police Chief DENISE KOCH WJZ TV News Anchor REBECCA METZGER M & R Creations

KEY CAMP STAFF Assistant Director SARAH MAMARIL Camper Coordinator REBECCA METZGER Volunteer Coordinator SHANNON NOLTE HEAD COUNSELORS ELLEN ARCHIBALD MICAELA ITTER MATT METZGER SHANNON NOLTE STEPHANIE ROTHENBERGER NATHANIEL WHIMS JIM CLARK BEN HIRSH

DAVE PERROTT Paper Mill Pharmacy CHUCK RITZ Hope and Peace Foundation JUDITH SCHAGRIN Former Deputy Director of Baltimore County Department Social Services; University of Maryland

School of Social Work BRUCE SCHINDLER Bob Davidson Ford AMY SHIMP

Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens PATTI STEINBERG, Co-founder Baltimore County Public Schools, Retired PHIL STEINBERG Baltimore County Public Schools, Retired STAN STOVALL NBC WBAL TV News Anchor

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VOLUNTEER DIVERSITY 4 MALE HEAD COUNSELORS

4 FEMALE HEAD COUNSELORS

26 DRIVERS

28 MALE JUNIOR COUNSELORS

30 FEMALE JUNIOR COUNSELORS

21 STAFF MEMBERS

ANNUAL DOLLARS

CAMPERS HELPED

60

$100,000

58 INCOME

52

50

EXPENSES

$80,000

45

40

36

$60,000

31

30

$40,000

20

$20,000

10

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

FIVE-YEAR COMPARISON

5

THE NEED

In 2017 alone, 7,578 children were verified victims of abuse in Maryland. Of those victims 1,660 children are aged 8-11. These are the children we serve.

INVESTIGATED & VERIFIED VICTIMS MARYLAND CHILDREN, AGES 8-11, IN 2017

OUR REFERRAL PROCESS The children we serve are referred to us by professionals in the child services community. Teachers, guidance counselors, social workers and members of the clergy have all identified children who would benefit from Camp Opportunity. We work with professionals, parents, and legal guardians to ensure that the children we serve are those who could most benefit and that we are best prepared to help.

436 KIDS 10 YEARS OLD

371 KIDS 11 YEARS OLD

449 KIDS 8 YEARS OLD

404 KIDS 9 YEARS OLD

TYPES OF ABUSE MARYLAND CHILDREN, ALL AGES, IN 2017

PHYSICAL ABUSE 1,688 (22.3%)

SEXUAL ABUSE 1,772 (23.4%)

NEGLECT 4,597 (60.7%)

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

*Percentages do not add up to 100% as some children are victims of multiple forms of abuse and are counted more than once.

SOURCES U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children’s Bureau, Child Maltreatment 2017 Report

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WHY WE ARE DIFFERENT

Camp Opportunity’s mission is to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect in Maryland. We serve children aged 8 to 11 who are victims of physical, sexual or neglectful child abuse. We offer them a fun, safe, one-week reprieve from their troubled households and nurture their sense of dignity and self-worth. The unique ingredient of our camp is one-on-one camp counseling where each counselor spends all day, every day, with their assigned camper. “ Our program empowers children (and volunteers) to try new things in an atmosphere that is supportive and conducive for building social skills. We provide up to four years of attendance in our program, molding the children in this crucial time in their lives. Most children we serve experience very difficult and unpleasant home lives that (more often than not) cause mental and emotional problems. These are children who are victims, by birth or circumstance, that often cause lasting damage to their view of life, their self-image and their view of how the world operates. They are traumatized children, from damaged homes, and our single purpose is to intervene in such a way as to give them a healthy life. We accept children who are entering the third grade of school (usually 8 years old), and they are allowed to remain in our program up to four years. Everything we offer to our children is free. There is no fee of any kind for any Camp Opportunity child to attend camp or interim activities. “ “

“

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OUR PROGRAMS

CAMP OPPORTUNITY Camp Opportunity of Maryland began in 1985 with the first week- long residential camp for abused and neglected children ages 8-11. Our community of volunteers come from all over Maryland and beyond. Our campers are referred by case workers in the Social Services Department of Baltimore City, and multiple counties in Maryland. We are a certified youth camp with the state of Maryland Department of Mental Health and Hygiene. At camp, we provide children an opportunity to experience respect from others in a setting where they are safe. Our approach empowers them to establish (in many cases for the first time ever) healthy relationships with adults and peers in an atmosphere that is supportive. Those relationships nurture their uniqueness, their talents and capabilities. Activities and classes at each of our camps are designed to coach campers in problem-solving strategies and give abundant positive reinforcement that builds self-esteem. Each camper is assigned to his or her personal counselor whose role is to support, guide, facilitate discovery, and be a friend.

These activities, combined with a daily theme class that focuses on self-worth, self- awareness, and self-esteem, help campers: ○ Develop a self-image as a person of worth ○ Learn to accept the differences of others ○ Develop leadership qualities ○ Set and pursue positive goals ○ Improve their ability to handle stress ○ Develop problem solving skills ○ Develop the ability to make decisions and be responsible for those decisions ○ Recognize that each person is a unique individual with special worth ○ Establish the ability to trust

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INTERIM ACTIVITIES In addition to a summer camp, we also gather campers, counselors and staff for a summer picnic, and celebrate every child’s birthday with a common cake and a personal gift-wrapped present. We also provide a winter activity. In March of 2018, we took the children and their counselors to Pottery Cove to paint ceramic pieces and then gathered for pizza at Peace A Pizza. Our activities enurture healthy relationships throughout the year. At this time Camp Opportunity is still staffed completely by volunteers. These activities are focused on affirming the worth, the capabilities of each camper and to provide opportunities for new experiences and joyful engagements. We have volunteers who provide transportation to and from the residential camp and to and from our interim activities. Our residential camp is presently located at the Hashawha Environmental Center near Westminster, MD.

HOME VISITATIONS To reinforce and sustain the emotional foundation established during camp, our program director attempts to visit each camper’s home to help their families identify and connect with services and organizations in the local community that are focused on the well-being and enrichment of children.

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“ Camp Opportunity has strengthened my desire to become a social worker − it helped opened my eyes to how much I want to help kids who have been through abuse and neglect, like the amazing children we serve. ” − Stephanie

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IN THE FUTURE

Every year, there are thousands of children in Maryland who are suffering abuse and/or neglect. We feel compelled to step up to the task of serving each and every one of them in some fashion. Whether we can offer them the full program we currently provide, or if it is something other than that, we intend to work toward the condition where each child who is the victim of abuse or neglect or (in many cases) both – can find value in our organization. This goal is a big one, but we are diligently working to find a path to a fuller, more robust level of success. Our five-year strategic plan calls us to serve at least 150 children by the year 2022. With our “one-to-one” ratio of campers to staff, this will require better connections with the public, significant fundraising and a great deal of effort. Although we have proudly been a volunteer-run organization for more than 30 years, we recognize we will need a dedicated staff in order to triple our capacity. Therefore, we are seeking a funding source to allow Camp Opportunity to pay a full time Executive Director. We will also need an Executive Assistant to coordinate follow up, schedule meetings and interviews, and facilitate the interactions between our staff of volunteers, as well as with the Departments of Social Services in Baltimore and the surrounding counties. Finally, it is clear to us that a dedicated campground is in our future. With the large numbers of children in need of Camp Opportunity, and the “scale” of addressing such a large number of programs and campers, we hope soon to find a property that can be offered to us and dedicated to camps all summer long for abused and neglected children. This will require a full time summer staff with new groups of children coming and going each week of the summer.

We have a lot of work to do, and we are seeking support from all available sources to move toward serving ALL children who are abused and neglected in Maryland. We believe we need to grow if we are to succeed at our mission to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect in Maryland.

“

This goal is a big one, but we are diligently working to find a path to a fuller, more robust level of success.

“

11

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

We have a knowledgeable and well-connected board of directors who are focused on governance and fundraising, a solid core of volunteers who have executed our program for over 30 years, but our executive team — who must lead and transform the organization — must grow to meet the needs of more children.

JOIN THE BOARD If you would like to help Camp Opportunity gain the resources it needs to continue and expand its mission, please consider becoming a member of the Board. Reach out to Roger and the board at board@campopportunity.org . JOIN THE EXECUTIVE TEAM Our volunteers have been heroically carrying the organization year after year. The Executive Team empowers them to build the organization of their dreams to serve the abused and neglected children of Maryland. We need to grow our organization to support our volunteers and a capacity to serve the children of Maryland will have enduring and consequential benefits to our community. Reach out to the executive team at team@campopportunity.org . VOLUNTEER AT CAMP! Volunteers are the most important part of the Camp Opportunity program. One of our greatest accomplishments is that our camp is staffed exclusively by unpaid volunteers that are so dedicated to the cause that they willingly give up a great deal of their time to mentor and support the children. Without these dedicated people who volunteer their time, many children who would greatly benefit from Camp Opportunity’s programs, would miss out on the valuable lessons and life experiences that our summer camp and other interim events offer. For many campers, Camp Opportunity is their first vacation away from home, and the memories that they develop will last forever. We take pride in the fact that our volunteers represent a great variety of ages, races, ethnicities, creed, political affiliations, and sexual orientations.

“

Camp did wonders for her

self-esteem, and gave her

a feeling of belonging and

a sense of community. It

helped her realize that

she is important, special

and gave her a place to be

herself. The experience

carries her through the

whole year. When she's

having bad days, I can

remind her of something

from camp and brighten

her mood and day.

“

12

AS A CAMP COUNSELOR As a camp counselor, you are assigned one camper. All counselors are expected to remain with their camper at all times, and camper-counselor pairs generally function as a “team”. You would be required to remain at the camp for the duration of the week. To volunteer, you must be at least 16 years old. Volunteer counselors undergo rigorous screening. Volunteers under the age of 18 must receive parental/guardian permission to attend. It is Camp Opportunity’s policy to provide equal opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual preference, age, or disability. In addition to helping an at-risk child who grows and matures through the camp program, many counselors develop long-lasting friendships with other counselors that continue long after the week of camp ends. Many counselors return year after year, and find that the week of camp is almost as rewarding for them as it is for their camper

AS A VOLUNTEER DRIVER We provide transportation for every camper to and from every Camp Opportunity event with the help of people willing to offer their time and chauffeur services. Drivers are needed 4 days out of the year. GET INVOLVED WITH CAMP PLANNING One week of summer camp requires months of intense planning and prepping by a strong team of diverse people. We hold planning meetings all year long leading up to the week of camp. Many tasks are assigned and various committees are formed to develop plans for the theme of each year’s camp, scheduling, activity planning, and purchasing.

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WHERE MONEY GOES

One of our greatest accomplishments is that our camp is staffed exclusively by unpaid volunteers that are so dedicated to the cause that they willingly give up a great deal of their time to mentor and support the children. “ “

CAMP & INTERIM PROGRAMS (72%) $58,322

FUNDRAISING (26%) $20,773

OPERATING EXPENSES (3%) $2,223

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THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR SUPPORTERS

A.S. Midway Trailways Amazon Smile America's Charities Anita M. Leach ASAP Results Associated Italian American Charities, Inc. B. Von Paris & Sons, Inc.

Merritt Companies Michael G. Gallerizzo

Myrna Mamaril Nancy Schiano Network for Good Papermill Pharmacy Paul D. Norris Perry Hall Insurance Brokers Phillips 66 Pottery Cove Protenus Ravens Roost Rubino Enterprises, Inc. Schwab Charitable Square, Inc. State of Maryland Treasurers Office TASC CFC Distribution Thai McGreivy Memorial Fund The Merck Foundation United Way of Central Maryland Whiteford, Taylor and Preston, LLP Zanvyl & Isabelle Krieger Fund Ziyan Ding

Baltimore Community Foundation Fresh Air Society Baltimore County Department of Social Services

Benevity Fund Donation Benjamin and Jane Aud Bob Davidson Ford Lincoln Byron R. Banghart Campbell & Company Carl T. Julio Catharine E. Stobie Heald Cathleen A. Tighe Charles E. Steinert Christina M. Sutt Christopher J. Monigle

Combined Charity Campaign Community of Christ Church Corroon Foundation Crystal Miranda Daniel & Lee Broh-Kahn Dennis J Meros Domenic Petrucci Contractors, Inc. Eagles Nest Country Club

Event Brite First Giving Gary & Patricia Ballinger Greater Washington Community Foundation Homestead Gardens

FOUNDATION GRANTS (24%)

Hope & Peace Foundation John & Barbara Gontrum Johnny L. Hughes Kids Campaign WBAL Mark & Jordana Hudson Mary Stuart McKenzie Mary Zheng Maryland Charity Campaign

ANNUAL FUNDRAISER (57%)

INDIVIDUALS & OTHER DONATIONS (11%)

CORPORATE DONATIONS (4%)

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ANNUAL REPORT 2018 Camp Opportunity

BREAKING THE CYCLE OF CHILD ABUSE - ONE CHILD AT A TIME

TAX EXEMPT EID # 52-1888794 17 SEVEN SPRINGS COURT, PHOENIX, MD 21131 443-879-9878 CAMPOPPORTUNITY.ORG