Funding gap may mean no summer camp for deaf
Family Network for Deaf Children short $30,000 to run one-of-a-kind program on Hornby Island
All Keira Ratzlaff wants to do this summer is go to a unique camp with other deaf youngsters.
But if the Family Network for Deaf Children doesn’t find another $30,000, special needs children such as Ratzlaff may not get a chance to spend time with other deaf youths on Hornby Island.
Heather Ratzlaff, Keira’s mother, said Keira isn’t eligible for other summer camps because her special needs, which include cerebral palsy and ADHD, require one-onone care.
The Deaf Youth Today program offers one-of-a-kind camps on Hornby Island and in Burnaby in July and August. At the camps, eight-year-old Keira gets the chance to see fellow students from the B.C. School for the Deaf as role models while they work as counsellors in training. The camps create a deaf environment where everyone communicates using American Sign Language.
“The challenge for us is that this is where Keira wants to go,” said Heather.
“This is her people and friends and community. This is the only deaf camp.”
Cecelia Klassen, executive director of Family Network for Deaf Children, said the usual sources of funding for the organization’s summer camps have dried up.
“For whatever reason, people are just not giving money,” Klassen said. “I don’t know what it is.”
Every year, about 168 children and youths aged five to 18 attend the summer camps. The budget of $221,000 includes $65,000 raised through grants and donations. Other contracted funding is from the Ministry of Children and Family Development. This year, fundraising has fallen short by $30,000.
The costs are higher at DYT because of the special requirements of summer programs for deaf children, Klassen said.
Up to 40 per cent of applicants to the program have special needs such as autism and blindness or may have behaviour problems. Since FNDC doesn’t turn any applicant away, the special needs sometimes only become apparent once children and youths start the program, Klassen said.
Deaf children are surrounded by counsellors and support workers who have a sophisticated knowledge of signing. That’s a big deal, she said, because many children come from families who don’t sign or don’t sign very much.
“Their parents might know 500 signs,” she said. “Nobody can live their life with 500 words when they’re 16.”
What happens is that, over time, children begin to trust counsellors and support workers. They may confide in them about physical and/or sexual abuse.
Staff also catch when deaf children and teens are swearing.
“(Parents) have no idea that the kids are doing that — our staff will catch that and be on top of it,” she said.
“That’s what our program offers that no other program offers.”
Cost per child for the fiveday Hornby Island Deaf Kids Deaf Camp in July is $1,500, an amount subsidized by FNDC.
In addition, the summer program includes five weekly camps in Burnaby for deaf and hard of hearing children which focus on different areas such as forest adventures, fishing and bicycling.