There are numerous different therapeutic recreation opportunities for individuals with special needs across the state of Iowa. Typically, these are put within the same company that serves the individual as an add-on to what they normally receive with their in-home services. Unfortunately, there is not too many other opportunities for individuals with special needs, and families to provide fun and exciting opportunities for recreation, in an inclusive environment. Camp Courageous of Iowa, located in Monticello, aims at offering another great therapeutic recreation for individuals to get away from their normal day to day routine and live life on the wild side. Let’s take a look at some of the things that they offer.
Camp Courageous Features
Camp Couragoues features a large amount of different games, activities, and fun for individuals of all ages. This article will look at the following areas of the camp and what they do.
- Camping Opportunities
- Travel Opportunities
- Volunteering
- Rentals
We will start with the camping opportunities as this is typically the most used service of the camp.
Camping Opportunities
Camp Couragoues is known for their year-round inclusive camping opportunities for individuals of all special needs. Some of the opportunities that are available, but are not limited to is: climbing and adventure activities, swimming in an indoor pool, archery, hiking, kayaking, arts and crafts, feeding animals, and many more. One of the newest additions to camp is an inclusive zip line, which allows individuals to zip line in a large harnessed chair. (This one is a favorite.) Another fun aspect of the camp is the ability to sleep overnight during the week. There are multiple camp dorms available for campers to utilize during their weeklong stays. These are all supervised by Staff who help assist the campers throughout the process. If you aren’t interested in going for an entire week, camp also has day camp and respite weekends available every once in a while as well. If it is too rainy or cold outside, there is an entire area dedicated to arcade games like air hockey, ski ball, pop a shot, and even a full size bowling alley! It is clear that there is no shortage of inclusive activities available to do while you are at camp. To take more stress off the family and campers, there is a mess hall on campus, providing a full meal service. Last, but not least, there is nursing staff available to help with medications, burns, and any health concerns that may come up during the campers stay. No matter how you cut it, the camping opportunities that camp courageous has to offer for individuals with special needs is truly remarkable. You don’t realize how large the facility is until you get there!
Travel Opportunities
The first way I heard about camp courageous is through their travel program. As someone who worked with individuals with special needs as a caregiver, there was numerous individuals who would come home from trips with Camp Couragoues, telling me all about their trips to Disney World, Bahamas, Chicago, and numerous other places. I thought this opportunity was so neat, so I looked into it a bit more. Camp Couragoues Travels, is a travel program through camp, which offers individuals with special needs the ability to travel on vacation to places all across the world. This trips are fully staffed with individuals who help assist the campers throughout their trip. The trips range in type and size, from day trips to a baseball game, to week long trips to Hershey, Pennsylvania and other popular destinations. If you have someone who is looking to travel the world, all with friends that have special needs, Camp Couragoues Travels is an excellent option for you.
Volunteering
Something I wanted to highlight, because it is an important part of camps success. Volunteers come in all shapes and sizes at Camp Couragoues. I personally enjoy volunteering for the travel trips as volunteers on these trips get the trips paid for entirely. If you don’t have the flexibility to carve out travel trips to volunteer for, you can volunteer at the camp portion as well. Volunteers at the camp can work directly with campers, in the camp store, helping setup activities, or wherever they are comfortable with. There is really no limit or requirement for volunteers either. If you can help for a few hours, or a few days, any help is welcome! With volunteering at camp, you get to enjoy meals and a place to stay while you come.
Rentals
The last thing that I wanted to highlight is some of the rental opportunities at Camp Couragoues. At camp, most of the areas can be rented out for birthdays, weddings, or special events. Durgin Pavilion is a large building right next to the beautiful lake view that can be a great place to host weddings or large events. In addition to this, Durgin Pavilion contains the arcade and bowling alley which can also be rented out for events as well! Another option for weddings is the Still Barn, offering a unique and farm-like setting, combining rustic Iowa, with a beautiful inner atmosphere. The last thing I will touch on is the indoor pool. The indoor pool can also be rented out in conjunction with birthday events or other ideas. More rental opportunities, that can be found on their website, is multi-purpose field, tents and cabins, and even an old train caboose.
Camp Couragoues in Iowa offers so many different ways for individuals to promote inclusion in recreation and society. To learn more about their services and what they can offer, make sure to visit their website here.
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