While we relish the opportunity to write each edition of the column, this issue is particularly exciting as it is composed with the hope that it is useful for those who will be interfacing directly with campers this summer. Each camp that runs a program this summer will brave the complexities of delivering on the promise of camp magic within a 2021 context. The enormity of this undertaking is not lost on anyone. This summer’s pre-camp orientation will likely be akin to drinking from a fire hydrant.

What if I told you that as a camp counselor you are in the position to change a life? That by committing to making your campers feel seen, heard, and valued, you could be an educator, stress reliever, mediator, and role model — all in one. Well, I’m about to tell you how.

ACA's new three-year grant program is designed to foster evidence-informed planning, testing, and improving initiatives to increase access to and engagement in counselor-in-training (CIT) programs and other qualified leadership programs among young people with diverse backgrounds, abilities, and identities. 

Thirty-year-old African American Jamal Stroud exudes positivity and light. Not necessarily an intuitive state of being for someone who started life in New York City’s foster care system. Like many who have experienced the kind of adversity he faced as a child, Stroud could have embraced the mean streets. Instead, he has focused his energy on helping today’s young men of color rise above similar hardships. He founded Big Homie Lil Homie (BHLH), a nonprofit, volunteer mentoring organization, in 2017 in Columbia, South Carolina, where he now lives with his wife and two children.