Out of the classroom and into the sunshine
Peel Children’s Centre summer program offers recreational activities along with therapeutic and educational treatment
Kids deserve a break from the indoor classroom to enjoy an outdoor one at camp and have fun being themselves — whether it’s a play day in a local park, an outing to a swimming pool or getting to know new friends and hanging out with old ones in a game of soccer.
The transition from school to camp is seamless at the Peel Children’s Centre day treatment summer program. It’s as much fun for the adults as the children, says child and youth worker Christina Bozzo-Bulatovic, who works with a small group of students from kindergarten to Grade 3 in the day treatment program, and then puts on her summer cap in July and gets to be a big kid with campers 6 to 17 who receive mental health treatment during the school year.
Peel Children’s Centre is one of the largest children’s mental-health treatment agencies in Canada, providing mental-health services for 3,600 children, youth and their families each year who live in the Brampton, Mississauga or Caledon areas.
Camp offers recreational activities that blend with therapeutic and educational treatment allowing highrisk children and youth with mentalhealth challenges the same experi- ences other kids have and that would not be available to them at a mainstream camp because of their special needs. It’s a fun, nurturing, safe setting and an opportunity for children to unwind and take a break from intensive treatment, says Bozzo-Bulatovic.
“There’s a real difference in the children when they’re not in a school environment,” she says, adding camp is where kids learn and gain new skills in a fun way. No one fails at camp, where even the smallest achievement is celebrated.
“Seeing them happy and engaged in activities that they enjoy makes our team happy,” she says, and is reward in itself.
Visits to local swimming pools and splash pads, gymnastic centres, the zoo and the science centre are a big hit with the kids, some of whom struggle with learning disabilities and attention deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as oppositional defiance disorder and mental health challenges. “Camp offers structure in an unstructured environment — natural, teachable moments,” says Bozzo-Bulatovic, adding it’s where children “build trusting, therapeutic relationships,” with their peers and adults, and learn life and problem-solving skills. “If not for camp, they would be at home doing nothing,” she says adding that, like the school program, camp helps empower children to talk about, share and be in touch with their emotions. “We travel through it together.” Goal: $650,000 How to donate: With your gift, the Fresh Air Fund can help send 25,000 disadvantaged and special needs children to camp. The experience gives these children much more than relief from summer heat — it gives them a break in life and memories to last a lifetime. Our target is $650,000. > By cheque: Mail to The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund, One Yonge St., Toronto, ON M5E 1E6 > By credit card: Visa, MasterCard, AMEX or Discover, call 416-869-4847 > Online: For instant donations, use our secure form at: thestar.com/ freshairfund The Star does not authorize anyone to solicit on its behalf. Tax receipts will be issued in September.
“There’s a real difference in the children when they’re not in a school environment.” CHRISTINA BOZZO-BULATOVIC CHILD AND YOUTH WORKER
If you have been touched by the Fresh Air Fund or have a story to tell, email lferenc@thestar.ca or phone 416-8694309.