Camp relies on farm animals to serve kids with special needs
Via West provides outdoor experiences for children with disabilities
CUPERTINO » Yuzuki Ogawa loves animals. Sometimes a little too intensely.
Her zeal was on full display on a recent morning when the spunky 6-year- old raced away from her dad to hug a neighbor’s dog from behind. The startled pup nipped Yuzuki, who has Down syndrome and at times approaches animals with overwhelming enthusiasm.
“She doesn’t necessarily always understand her boundaries,” said Amy Kivett, Yuzuki’s mom.
Enter Via Services. The nonprofit — entering its 75th year — aims to help children and adults with disabilities become more self- sufficient and independent.
At the organization’s Via West campus, a 13- acre retreat in the foothills south of Stevens Creek Reservoir, kids like Yuzuki learn how to interact with horses, goats, pigs and other farm animals. That way, they’re more prepared for trips to the zoo, the park or, in Yuzuki’s case, run-ins with neighborhood pets.
“She does learn,” Kivett said. “She just needs the experience.”
That’s what Via Services wants to provide with the $20,000 it is seeking from Wish Book donations. The organization wants to expand its farm program and build accessible milking stations, egg gathering areas and shaded petting space, among other improvements.
At her Belmont kindergarten last year, Yuzuki — who has memorized all the choreography for Taylor Swift’s “Delicate” and loves dancing when she’s not playing with animals — was enamored with the young chicks her classroom raised. After lessons from her teacher, Yuzuki was able to cradle them carefully.
And on a warm October morning at Via West, Yuzuki — Yuzu to her family — practiced gently petting Ethel and Fred, a pair of pigs happily munching on pumpkins.
Earlier, the first grader — decked out in pink sneakers, a white skirt adorned with multicolored hearts and a sparkly T-shirt — had been playing quietly with a toy orange juice glass while the adults around her talked, mostly ignoring a reporter’s boring questions.
But when she saw the pigs and a Nigerian dwarf goat named Norman, Yuzuki’s eyes lit up.
“I want this one,” she said, scampering toward one of the hogs.
In July, Yuzuki attended several weeks of summer camp at Via West, doing arts and crafts, swimming and cooking cake pops and other treats — and, of course, engaging in one of her favorite things: playing with animals.
Though Yuzuki easily runs and jumps, many of her fellow campers use wheelchairs or have other mobility challenges. And Via West doesn’t turn away kids because of behavioral issues, instead bringing in counselors and nurses trained to work with people with special needs.
“I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to have camps like these,” Kivett said. “There are very few places like this kids with special needs can go.”
But Via West director Scott Webb wants to make the camp, which serves about 5,000 kids each summer and thousands more children and adults throughout the year, even better.
“I really want to add to the program,” said Webb, adding that “it’s really important” not only for children to interact with animals but for kids to see where their food comes from.
When it’s done, “The Farm in the Canyon” will allow kids to see how goat milk can turn into goat cheese. They’ll learn where eggs come from and how to approach and care for chickens, bunnies and other animals.
The organization gets funding through the state, and families who can afford the expense help cover some of the costs of the camp. The nonprofit also rents space to groups like Walden West Outdoor School, which offers overnight environmental science education to fifth and sixth graders in Santa Clara County. But Webb said, without additional support, Via “wouldn’t be able to run this.”
Though Yuzuki attended Via West as a day camper this past summer, next year, Kivett is considering enrolling her daughter in an overnight session.
“The camp is as much for family and caregivers and parents as it is for the kids,” Webb said. “This is the one week a year they can actually go and take a vacation.”
Not to mention spend more quality time with the other kids in the family.
Over the summer, while Yuzuki was happily engaged at camp one weekend, Kivett and her husband took their 9-year- old daughter and 4- year- old son to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk as a special treat. When Yuzuki goes along on such family outings, one parent focuses on her needs while the other wrangles her siblings. But on that day, Yuzuki’s parents were able to devote all their time and attention to her siblings.
Sometimes, Webb said, parents are a little nervous when they drop off their children, or worried their kid will be more of a challenge for counselors than others. Webb reassures them his staff has seen it all before and sends them on their way.
But when they come back a week or even hours later, Webb said, “It’s just remarkable. They’re so relaxed.”
The whole camp experience is beneficial, Kivett said, but especially the animal interaction. Yuzuki was excited about a class field trip to Half Moon Bay’s Lemos Farm — which offers pony rides and a petting zoo. She also was prepared.
At home, Kivett’s older daughter has been begging for a dog. The family has held off for years. But that may soon change.
“I think,” Kivett said, “we’ll get one.”