We held the second session of YEA Camp for Adults at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary in New Paltz, New York.

Here are some of the highlights from YEA Camp 2019.

Our 11th Summer

This was our 11th summer hosting YEA Camp for teens ages 12 – 17 and we are so grateful for the opportunity to work with these inspiring young people. 

Our first youth camp was held at Nature’s Classroom in Charlton, Massachusetts from July 13 – 20. Our second youth camp was held at Camp Buckhorn in Idyllwild, California from August 3 – 10. 

We had around fifty campers at each youth session representing two dozen states and three countries. 

From June 30 – July 6, 22 campers from 12 states stayed with us at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary in New Paltz, New York for the second ever session of YEA Camp for Adults. From yoga in the morning to meeting with farmed animals after lunch, from workshops on gender and race to trainings on communication and fundraising, our campers had the perfect mix of self-care and reflection while also learning valuable skills to help advance their activism.

We love our YEA Camp Massachusetts staff!

Between the three sessions of camp, we were so blessed to have 35 amazing staff members from 16 different states.

Our Impact

Juan Antonio Nelson is an Iowa college student who flew all the way to New York to attend adult camp. When asked about the experience, he said, “Without YEA Camp, I wouldn’t feel that I could make a difference in my immediate community. I wouldn’t have the courage to stand up for others. If not for YEA Camp, I wouldn’t have met a strong community of activists who are passionately advocating for what they believe in.”

A few months ago, former YEA Camper and current YEA staff member Ananya Singh was featured on the Perennials Podcast. In the podcast, Ananya says, “When I was 12 years old, the summer before eighth grade, I attended this summer camp called Youth Empowered Action and this is a camp for teen activists and it really was a life changing experience for me. It exposes you to so many different social issues that are going on in the world and kind of takes the approach of intersectionality and showing how all of these issues are so interconnected and then really breaking down what is possible for young people to do.”

YEA Camp staff member Ananya Singh in action at the Morristown, New Jersey Climate Strike

We also recently shared the story of former YEA Camper Leah Kelly who FIVE years after attending camp, wrote this blog post where she says, “Five and a half years ago, as a 15-year-old, I attended Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp for the first time and my life was changed immeasurably. I can’t imagine how different my life would have been from then on had I not spent that pivotal week learning what it means to be an effective agent of change and forming lasting connections that supported, and continue to support me as I navigate a chosen path of social justice and fighting for what I believe in.”

Our Brand New Program

This year, we also launched the first-ever YEA Camp Volunteer-a-thon. The Volunteer-a-thon was created to encourage our community in service and activism while raising money for the YEA Camp Scholarship Fund. 

Dima Bischoff-Hashem created an awesome Volunteer-a-thon project supporting her Issue of Importance, animal rights!

Participants created donor pages, shared what activism they would be working on, and asked their loved ones to “sponsor” them in their work. You can read more about three of our camper’s projects at this link and click here to read what one camper wrote about the experience. 

All funds raised through the Volunteer-a-thon go towards the YEA Camp Scholarship Fund which makes camp accessible for all who want to attend. 

This year, 51 of our 100 participants received financial aid and 17 of those campers were on full scholarships. Overall, we funded $66,400 of financial aid this year.  

Our Gratitude

We cannot say thank you enough to everyone who made camp possible. From our food donors to our staff to our donors, thank you. 

Helping ourselves to vegan pizza with Miyoko’s Cheese and more toppings than we can count!

Thanks to two generous donors, we also have a special opportunity through the end of the year. All donations given before the end of the year will be TRIPLED. Click here to learn more and to donate to our Scholarship Fund. 

Every year at YEA Camp, we have the privilege of meeting passionate and activated changemakers who are taking the world by storm. We feel so grateful to be a part of their story and look forward to supporting you in making a bigger difference on the causes you care most about, too!

See You Next Summer

Do you want to experience YEA Camp for yourself next summer, or know someone who would love to join us? 

We are eagerly preparing for 2020 and are excited to offer an Early Bird special registration for $250 off those who sign up before the end of the year. Do you know someone who would be great for YEA Camp? Nominate them here!

• Youth Camp: in Ventura, California (July 5 – 12) and Charlton, Massachusetts (August 1 – 8)
• Adult Camp: in Lanoka Harbor, New Jersey (July 18 – 24)

See you next summer!

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By having friends and family sponsor them in this activism, participants are raising money for the YEA Camp Scholarship Fund. The scholarship fund is a core tenet of the mission of YEA Camp. It makes camp accessible for all who want to be there. In the past decade, we have trained over 1,000 activists. None of that would be possible without the support of our donors.

This summer alone, YEA Camp gave financial aid to 51 of the 100 participants to a total of $66,400 worth of aid!

Triple the Impact

This year’s Volunteer-a-Thon is an opportunity to pay that gift forward. By giving to YEA Camp, you give a young person the gift of camp. You allow us to activate them with the knowledge, skills, confidence, and community that they need to make a bigger difference in this world. By participating in or donating to the Volunteer-a-Thon, you become a champion for someone’s activism. 

Thanks to two generous donors, we are making your dollars walk a little farther this year. From now until the end of the year, all Volunteer-a-Thon donations will be TRIPLED. Where else can you invest $20 and see $60 raised to support young changer makers?

Sometimes, though, it’s hard to quantify what that looks like. That’s why we’ve invited two time YEA Camper and Volunteer-a-Thon participant, Mia Jay-Pachirat to share her story. 

What YEA Camp Means to Mia Jay-Pachirat

Hello! My name is Mia. I’m 17 and have gone to YEA Camp for two years now.  I love it. Last year, my Issue of Importance (IOI) was climate change, and my action plan was to create an art zine, all based around solutions to climate change based in New York City, where I live. (Note: A zine is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images).

Through the Volunteer-a-thon, I have been working on this zine, and I’ve started to plan out the skeleton of it. I am hoping that next month I can start making it! I am thankful for YEA Camp for giving me this opportunity to pursue my passion because otherwise, I wouldn’t have the knowledge and the community to effectively pursue what I wanted to do.

YEA Camp has allowed so many kids to learn how to fight for the world we live on. This is so important because currently not a lot of adults in the government are fighting for what the youth is going to have to live with for many years to come. I think YEA Camp allows youth to make sure that they have the tools themselves to change the world and to right the wrongs that adults have made and continue to make.

I know, personally, that through YEA Camp I have become a much stronger and passionate activist than I ever was before. I’ve learned how to talk to people I don’t know about issues that concern me and how to do that in a positive, helpful way. Additionally, the friends you make at YEA Camp are the best friends you will ever make. YEA Camp friends care about issues that you care about, and they understand what it’s like to struggle with explaining yourself to others that don’t think the same way.

Mia’s Project

So on to my zine! My basic idea for my action plan was to start creating a zine, mass-produce it, and then hand it out on the streets of New York. That didn’t work out because of school and schedule conflicts with my going through the college process. But after talking to my art teacher and making up a plan with her, she’s allowing me to do my zine in art class during the school day. I’m going to start producing a magazine next week. I have everything planned out and I am super excited.

By donating and creating a page for the Volunteer-a-Thon you’re helping so many kids have the opportunity to come to the wonderful, wonderful YEA Camp. Please, if you can donate, share a page. or even create one that would mean the world! To learn more about my project, click here.

Support YEA Camp

To support Mia and the other members of the YEA Camp community, click here. You can read more about her project and others or even create your own page. 

If you are able, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to YEA Camp this year. Your dollar will go three times as far thanks to our generous matching donors.

Interested in joining us at camp next year? We recently announced the dates for YEA Camp 2020 and are currently running an Early Bird special. Register by the end of the year to receive $250 off your registration. Do you know someone who would be great for camp? Nominate them here!

• Youth Camp: in Ventura, California (July 5 – 12) and Charlton, Massachusetts (August 1 – 8)
• Adult Camp: in Lanoka Harbor, New Jersey (July 18 – 24)

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Pizza with Miyoko’s Cheese and “more toppings than we could count!”

One way we practice every day activism is by our food choices at camp.

For some of our campers and our staff, the allure of an all vegan camp is how they heard about us in the first place. For others, our vegan food is just another blurb on the FAQ page. YEA Camp is all about social justice and, at the end of the day, everyone at camp wants to build a more peaceful and sustainable world. That is why YEA Camp is vegan with a heavy focus on fair-trade, organic, and local options. 

The food we choose at the grocery store or out for dinner with friends is one of the simplest acts of every day activism we can do. Because of that, we hire a skilled team of vegan chefs to cook us amazing food that everyone can appreciate. 

This summer, we had some incredible companies donate their plant-based products to help us more affordably showcase the very best in vegan eating. 

Thank you to…

Amy’s Kitchen is a family-owned food company that was organic before “organic” was a national certification. Pioneers of the organic food industry (and maker of endless delicious vegan options), Amy’s has been with YEA Camp since year one and we are so grateful for their support!

Another family-owned business, Butler Foods donated their famous Butler Soy Curls, an all natural alternative to meat. Our chefs traded the traditional Chicken Noodle Soup for “Soy Curl Noodle Soup” for an extra dash of heart-healthy perfection. 

Sometimes we even let campers into the kitchen for baking demos!

Chicago Vegan Foods is a 100% vegan company (did the name give it away?) From their frozen dessert line to their gooey non-dairy cheese to their vegan marshmallows, Chicago Vegan Foods has something for everyone. Thank you Chicago Vegan Foods!

YEA Camp Trivia: Do you know what vegan company Camp Founder & Director Nora Kramer named her rescue dog after? Daiya the dog approves of Daiya Foods and all the “deliciously dairy-free foods” they bring to our camp. You can even find vegan frozen pizzas from Daiya in grocery stores around the country. Yum!

Started in 1970 when four friends “opened a seven-seat soup, salad, and sandwich counter in the back of small natural food store in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California,” Follow Your Heart now offers over 60 dairy-free products in over 25 countries. We are so grateful for their support and their reminder to, “when in doubt, Follow Your Heart.” 

We couldn’t get in line fast enough for this Miyoko’s inspired vegan pizza!

Miyoko’s Kitchen provided us with many a mid-day snack. Their cheese wheels were a hit at every session of camp and we especially love this quote, pulled from their website: “Compassion for animals is at the heart of everything we do. It always has been. It always will be.”

Like Amy’s Kitchen, Tofurky has been a generous support of YEA Camp for eleven years. We even wrote a feature post about them here! Tofurky has been providing us with plant-based protein since our very first session. Truthfully, it wouldn’t feel like camp without them!

We are so lucky to have their support!

YEA Camp would not be nearly as delicious were it not for the support of these awesome companies who are revolutionizing what it means to eat vegan. Campers often tell us that YEA Camp is what propelled them to eat a plant-based diet! What an honor to help our campers become more conscious about their food choices. We are so grateful to have the support of these compassionate companies. Their dedication to making the world a kinder and more ethical place inspires us all.

The time to announce dates for YEA Camp 2020 is coming soon. Be sure to sign up for e-news to make sure you’re the first to know!

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This past summer I had the opportunity to enjoy one of the best experiences of my life. I attended YEA Camp, a camp for social change. The camp trains young people like myself to be more effective activists and help change the world for the better. But even though I read every detail of information posted on the website, I had no idea what I was getting into.

When I got to camp, I was scared to death. I didn’t know anyone. But soon, one of the counselors explained what was happening and I went and made my own name tag, community bio, and appreciation poster (which is still hanging on my wall)!

 That afternoon, we played lots of name games and really got to know each other better. I got to meet the people I would be rooming with for the rest of camp, and even got my first taste of the amazing food at camp. But it wasn’t until the first workshop, Activism 101, that I really started to understand how life-changing this experience would be for me.

Throughout the week, I completed many different workshops that developed and refined my skills as an activist and advocate for social change. I also got to meet so many amazing, like-minded people. I had felt out of place at home, but at YEA Camp, I really felt like I belonged.

The supportive community throughout camp was probably one of the biggest confidence boosters of the whole experience. I finally understand that what I was trying to do was good, and that I should keep at it, no matter what other people thought, because I would always be supported by the people at YEA Camp.

 After the week was over, I packed up my things and headed home after an amazing graduation ceremony and some heartfelt goodbyes. On the car ride home, I went through my messages and caught up on everything I had missed. But it wasn’t until I arrived home and was in my room later that night that I really started to dig in deep on my activism.

Since camp, I’ve had the confidence and skills to take on leadership positions in my community and in organizations I am a part of. I’ve presented to many people that I never thought I’d be able to talk to. And I’ve spread my message more effectively than I ever thought I could.

So thank you, YEA Camp and Nora, for making me a better activist and person.

Rey Watson is a passionate environmental and animal rights activist form New Jersey who is actively working to help stop the climate crisis and save animals. She also enjoys reading and writing as well as spending time with animals.

If you’re like Rey and want to become an activist on a cause you care about, join us at YEA Camp! Don’t want to wait til summer? Good — we need more changemakers now! Check out our free ebook, The Beginner’s Guide to Changing the World for help getting started or taking your change-making to new heights!

The post Finding My Voice at YEA Camp — a Summer Camp for Social Change appeared first on YEA Camp.

The category is…activism.

Set in a gritty 1987 New York, Pose depicts the LGBTQ world of balls, the competitive pageantry scene that allowed a marginalized group to shine, be seen, and garner credibility within the community. The show’s characters are all a part of houses, a family system formed because often trans and gay teens were kicked out of their biological family unit and left to fend for themselves. Having been through this experience herself, when Blanca (Mj Rodriguez) later finds out she is HIV positive, she decides to pay it forward by forming her own house. The House of Evangelista is a refuge for lost souls. Drama ensues as Blana’s house members become a family, competing with other houses for ultimate recognition in the ballroom world.

Needless to say, the series gives a much-needed history to a community whose stories often get buried amidst the Reagan-era, Trump age-of-opulence, Wall Street woes. Apart from the 1991 documentary, Paris is Burning, this community has barely been chronicled. In this way, the show itself is a form of activism. As the general public pushed LGBTQ members to the fringe of society, and the medical community struggled with how to treat the AIDS epidemic, these gay, trans, Black, Latino protagonists are showcased in all their glory. In Pose, it is the wealthy, white, male, bankers and real estate developers who are relegated to the periphery.

Who Are the Characters?

Each character in Pose finds their own way to gracefully fight the system and give back to their community. They do this even though they have little to spare. (Slight spoilers ahead) Blanca offers her children shelter, protection, and support to uplift the community. Her fiercest competitor, Elektra (Dominique Jackson), considers undergoing gender-reassignment surgery even though it may mean losing everything she has. At one point, emcee extraordinaire, Pray Tell (Billy Porter), uses his limited resources to put together a cabaret show to cheer up patients in the AIDS ward. Season two will delve deeper into AIDS activism and dealing with the decimation of a community. Pose’s characters risk everything they have because they don’t have a choice, the other alternatives are homelessness, loneliness… death.

Pose is an exploration of what it means to be a woman. The show unapologetically births characters to us as they are. Characters who are glamorous, confident, females, friends, sisters, daughters, and mothers. Viewers never see the internal struggle around transforming into the women they are because they already embody womanhood in spades. (This show has taught me more about femininity than anything I have ever experienced). The struggles each character faces are all external: the world and how it receives them. Thus further defining womanhood: an elegant battle painstakingly fought in the shadows that no one knows was fought.

Who Are the Minds Behind Pose?

The show’s palpable authenticity comes from the creators (Steven Canals, Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk) collaborating with transgender writers/producers (Janet Mock, Our Lady J), directors, and actors. In fact, never in the history of television has the silver screen shown five transgendered, women of color, who are series regulars.  The commitment to accurate storytelling by using the artists best suited to tell those stories has resulted in a living, breathing statement of what it means to be trans.

To someone in the community, the show offers aspirational figures to look up to, who can help navigate tough situations. To people outside of the community, Pose gives an inside look into the hardships, pain, family, and love. Half-way through the series, you seem to forget the characters are transgendered and their experiences are normalized. It simply becomes a show about a family you want to be a part of, one of unconditional love and acceptance.

Why is This So Important Right Now?

The show rises at a time when trans rights are on the chopping block in this current administration. Trump Tower is even highlighted in Season 1. We are left to wonder, more than thirty years after this show takes place, how far have we really come? Perhaps the answers lie in digging for the stories untold. Perhaps the answer is in choosing to see the unseen and remembering that the loss of one person’s rights, is a loss for everyone’s rights. In the words of Indya Moore who plays Angel, “We need to stop treating respect like it’s a privilege. Respect is a responsibility.”

Pose season 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Season 2 debuts on 6/11 on FX.

If you are passionate about LGBTQ rights or any other progressive issues and you want to learn to be more active on those causes, check out YEA Camp this summer. For the past 10 years, we have been training people to make a bigger difference in the world. We also have a great time doing it. This summer, we have two sessions for teens and one session of YEA Camp for Adults, with folks coming from all over the country to attend. We hope you’ll join us there.

About the Author: Camilla Rubis is a TV Writer in Los Angeles and a volunteer for YEA Camp. She’s currently pursuing the spread of financial literacy to empower and support future generations.

About this Post: Netflix and Activate is a column profiling shows and films that activate us and awaken our inner activist.

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