Summer camp for adults gives us permission to let down our hair and dance!

For most “grown-ups,” summer camp is a thing of the past, trading cabins for cubicles and hikes for hectic work schedules. But there are so many benefits that kids get from going to camp that are valuable for adults too!

That’s why Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp took its 10 years of experience running summer leadership camps for teens and created a YEA Camp for Adults.

For YEA Camp in particular, as a social justice camp that helps aspiring activists make a bigger difference on the causes they care about, we see that what we do is just as relevant for adults as for youth.

Since 2009, YEA Camp has trained over 700 teens to get active and be more effective on the issues of their choice. Our program is focused on developing people’s knowledge, skills, confidence, and community — something that anyone on a change-making path will benefit from, regardless of age.

Here are 10 reasons adults need summer camp just as much as kids do:

1. Tap into a greater sense of your purpose

   When was the last time you spent a week focused on cultivating your life’s purpose? At YEA Camp, our focus is on how to make a bigger difference in the world by reconnecting with what really matters. We prioritize the good stuff.

2. Camp bursts your bubble (in a good way)!

   When we are accustomed to spending time with the same people, at the same job, and in the same community, we limit how we express ourselves. Stepping out of your bubble gives you an opportunity to experiment with new ways of being. This helps us to live into our most authentic selves.

3. Self-care, self-care, self-care

   Despite being a ubiquitous buzzword, self-care — “the practice of taking action to improve one’s own health” — is super important. In the busyness of work and life, sometimes we take our own well-being for granted. This can have consequences to our mental, physical, and emotional psyche. At camp, we share ways to replenish ourselves and invest in experiences that will refuel our energy.

   

   Forget traditional networking, at adult summer camp you will make life-long friends in a really organic way.

4. It’s the most fun you’ll ever have “networking”

   Forget business cards or small talk. Camp is set up so that we can develop meaningful friendships through a like-minded community. From playful games to heartfelt discussions to late-night pajama parties, our adult campers leave with friendships that are much deeper than can be made at happy hour.

5. Time to focus on passion projects

   When we pull ourselves out of your daily routines, we can actually focus on what matters to us. At camp, we spend a whole week exploring our activism area of interest. Setting aside intentional time for your passions can be an unforgettable experience with long-term benefits. Camp provides an opportunity to focus on passions that sometimes don’t fit into your busy schedule.

6. Shifting routines shifts your perspective

   Speaking of getting out of daily routines, think of camp as a reset. Being in nature can help us clear our minds, refocus our priorities, and refresh our outlook. Think of YEA Camp for Adults as a well-deserved retreat — but with a talent show, a dance party, and activities that will help you see the world differently and take more effective action on the causes you care about when you get home.

   

   Camp for adults allows us to spend time in nature while taking time to pursue what we really care about.

7. Being in nature is paramount for our health

   So many of us spend our days indoors, staring at screens. Being out in nature, spending time with animals, breathing fresh air, and engaging in healthy forms of movement are key ingredients to a vibrant life. YEA Camp for Adults takes place on the property of Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, a sanctuary for rescued animals whom we can visit with each day. There will be time for yoga, journaling, outdoor games or exercise, or just taking a nap under a tree.

8. We make “work” fun

   Activism can be hard, and delving into serious topics can be challenging. YEA Camp makes it fun. We don’t force you to sit at a conference. We also aren’t big fans of stuffy offices. That’s why we do our activism training in between visits with the animals and meaningful community-building activities. At the end of the week, campers leave with a clear and tangible action plan on how they can make a difference on their chosen cause. Plus, they have a great time doing it.

9. Meaningful self-development

   The more we expand our outlook and perspectives on life, the more comfortable we can be in every situation. This can lead to endless new insights, relationships, and possibilities in any area of life. We think it’s true that life does indeed begin at the end of our comfort zone. YEA Camp is designed to help campers feel more comfortable going outside their comfort zone.

   10. Live your best life

   As they say, “pick a job you like and you’ll never work a day in your life.” At camp, we believe that finding the joy and fun in something real and meaningful will help you lead a more balanced and fulfilling life. Plus, camp lets us get out of a rut or initiate shifts in routine that can lead to creativity and new perspectives. Devoting a week to what’s most important to you is so valuable. At YEA Camp for Adults, we connect with how to apply your skills and passions. We want to help you make the world a better place in a way that inspires you.

No matter how old you are, it’s not too late to have a great answer to the age-old question, “How did you spend your summer vacation?”

YEA Camp for Adults is for aspiring activists who know they want to make a bigger difference in the world, and who want focused skill-building and leadership training in the midst of the playful world of summer camp. If that sounds like a great way to spend your summer, click here to learn more. And, of course, if you know a 12-17 year-old who wants to know how they can do more to make our world a better place, YEA Camp’s youth camp is the place to be!

The post 10 Reasons Adults Should Go To Summer Camp Too appeared first on YEA Camp.

The Pollination Project, a foundation that makes small grants to grassroots activists all over the world, has partnered with The California Endowment to look for and fund outstanding young people in California for its Youth Rising grant. Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp, a summer camp for teen activists, happens to know a lot of outstanding young people in California!

Three YEA Campers have already been selected to receive $1000 grants from this unique program, helping to manifest their visions to expand their efforts.

Phoebe Collver-Freeland, from Fremont, CA, attended YEA Camp in Oregon first as a 14-year old in 2013 and again 3 years later in New York. Phoebe is a lifelong vegan and became an animal advocate at the age of 11(!). Phoebe and her family have turned their Bay Area property into a microsanctuary for rescued farmed animals.

Phoebe’s vision is to add a visitor center to the microsanctuary so that members of the community, especially kids, can visit and connect with the chickens, pigs, and goats.

YEA Camp’s director Nora Kramer nominated Phoebe for the Flow Fund, and we are thrilled that Phoebe got the grant! Phoebe, now 17, was declared by PETA2 to be “The Coolest Vegan Alive,” just got even cooler!

Akosua Boateng is a senior at Sacramento Charter High School and attended YEA Camp in 2014.

After attending YEA Camp, she told us, “I’ve learned so much. [Before camp] when I looked at the civil rights movement, it was like, what can I do today? … Now I have a plan, instead of just going off the top of my head or going with the flow. I have a plan. I’m not unprepared for the world.”

This made our hearts sing! Since YEA Camp, Akosua has become very active in social justice causes at her school and a local sustainable farm in Sacramento.

We nominated Akosua for a grant for her Project GOOD, an acronym for Growing Our Own Destiny, and she got the grant! Akosua works with the Yisrael Family Farm in the South Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento to, in her words, “use urban agriculture activism to get more people of color and of low income in touch with what we believe is a sacred thing — cultivating the Earth.”

With the grant, Akosua and her team will make starter gardening boxes to give to people in the community who want to grow their own food. “It’s our way of food activism, ensuring that all people can have a high-quality life while giving back to the Earth,” Akosua said.

Akosua was thrilled when she found out she had been awarded the grant. “I am truly inspired and grateful for us receiving this grant. It gives me hope for humanity. It reassures me that there are still people out there who are past the superficial and sincerely care about the health of our bodies and the Earth. We must step and be good stewards of the land given to us. Here in the city, we will start with urban agriculture.”

Similarly, Aly Pelka, 18, from Oceanside, who attended YEA Camp with Akosua three summers ago as a 15-year-old, has become passionate about farming, growing food, and helping people in need. She helps organize monthly events to provide food and needed items to homeless and low-income people in her area. Aly has found that the homeless community in her area are “smart and care about health, they just unfortunately don’t have access to healthy food.” Aly has gotten a certification in permaculture and lived abroad farming on sustainable communities in Central America, and she wants to put what she’s learned into action in her community.

We nominated Aly for a project that is inspired by combining these passions, and we were thrilled that she was selected to receive the grant.

Called Plant Love, Aly will be working with members of her community to create planter boxes of veggies that will be maintained by local businesses in her town, many of which have already agreed to participate.

“I am beyond grateful for this grant, as I strive to positively influence the world, starting with my own community,” Aly said. “With this grant, I am going to touch the lives of my community, and fuel my neighbors with organic fruits, veggies, and lots of love.”

We have been beyond thrilled to help these outstanding young changemakers access the funds that have been made so generously available by The Pollination Project and The California Endowment.

For our final project in supporting the California Youth Rising grant, YEA Camp and The Pollination Project are partnering with Reframe Labs, an incubator and accelerator for innovative in and out of district schools dedicated to equity, to put on The $1000 School Hack contest this Saturday. The day-long event held at Sunnyside Baptist Church in the South Central part of Los Angeles will award up to 5 $1000 grants to students in the LA Unified School District who develop innovative ideas to improve their schools.

“Students crave to express themselves and take ownership of their lives,” Sean Markin, the VP of Advocacy and Communications at Reframe Labs, explained. “We all want the pride that comes from helping our community. But how often do students get the opportunity to help reinvent their education? How often can students bring investment back to their school family? We are excited to use the $1,000 School Hack to empower our city’s children in these unique and powerful ways.”

Are you a student, or do you know a student in LA ages 13-18?

Click here to register to participate in this free event, which is open to middle- and high-school students throughout the state. 

“We draw so much inspiration and hope from young change makers. It is a privilege to work with YEA Camp to identify and invest in youth-led social change projects in California,” said Pollination Project’s Executive Director Alissa Hauser.

We feel the same! Being able to partner with The Pollination Project to help some of our campers get funding to expand their social change efforts and make a bigger difference in their communities has been an honor, and partnering with Reframe Labs has enabled us to connect even more young change makers with the funds to help them implement their visions. We are thrilled that there are organizations like The Pollination Project, The California Endowment, and Reframe Labs that are helping to elevate youth innovation and passions to make a difference.

If you or someone you know is a young changemaker, ages 12-17, check out YEACamp.org to see about joining us at our summer camp for social change to take your efforts to make a difference the next level. And if you or someone you know is doing social change work that would benefit from greater funding, visit ThePollinationProject.org.

The post YEA Camp Partners With Pollination Project to Fund Young Changemakers appeared first on YEA Camp.

Well, this year, while we will also have 3 regular ol’ amazing, life-changing sessions of YEA Camp from coast to coast, we are thrilled to also be offering a first-of-its-kind session of YEA Camp specifically for animal advocates!

Held at the incredible Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary in Upstate New York, campers will experience the same fun, inspiring, and informative activities at all YEA Camps while also focusing specifically on becoming the best advocates for animals they can be. The session will be from August 9-16, 2015, at the gorgeous Epworth Center in High Falls, NY, less than 2 hours from Manhattan.

Campers at this unique session will:

• learn the best ways to make a difference for animals through activism at school and in their community
• meet and bond with some of the most dedicated young animal advocates in the country
• receive mentorship from accomplished, adult animal-advocating role models
• gain confidence in speaking up effectively in challenging situations
• recognize the interconnections between animal rights and other social justice issues, like poverty, the environment, racism, and more.
• care for neglected and abused animals at the sanctuary
• become familiar with organizations around the country making a difference for animals
• be inspired by all the progress being made and possibilities for helping animals!

Like at all sessions of YEA Camp, campers will have tons of fun and make great friends in a supportive community, recognize their ability to affect the problems in our world in a more positive way, and leave armed with an action plan to make a difference in their school or community.

And, like all sessions of YEA Camp, which are committed to modeling living peacefully and sustainably, campers will enjoy delicious mostly organic vegan meals – 3 meals, 2 healthy snacks, and an amazing dessert each day!

We couldn’t be more thrilled to bring amazing young animal advocates together at YEA Camp for an inspiring and life-changing week to bring about a more compassionate world!

Of course, animal advocates will still get a ton out of attending any of the other sessions of YEA Camp — including the session in NY taking place at the same time — if those dates or locations work better, or if they’d rather be with a group of people passionate about many different issues versus focused primarily on one.

Space is limited at all of our sessions, and we’ve got a sweet Early Bird Discount until January 1, so now’s the time to learn more about YEA Camp, tell friends, and register for your best summer ever!

Can’t wait til the summer!!!

P.S. Check our site for more info if you’re interested in working at or volunteering with YEA Camp. We’ll start hiring in February.

The post Announcing Our First Ever YEA Camp for Animal Advocates! appeared first on YEA Camp.