A Second-Chance Camp

Kids with troubled pasts are given a chance to turn their lives around at 17 year-round wilderness camps run by Eckerd Family Youth Alternatives, a Florida charity.

Some of the youths are referred to the camps by their parents or by school counselors because of gang involvement, drug and alcohol abuse, difficulties at home, and other problems. But the majority have been ordered to the camps by state social-service agencies.

The charity was founded in 1968 by Jack and Ruth Eckerd of the Eckerd Drug chain as a way of helping kids work on behavioral problems in a highly structured environment. All the camps, which are located in seven Eastern states, are accredited, and the youths receive school credit for the time they spend there.

Each day, the campers, about 90 per cent of whom are boys, wake up early in the morning and hold “powwows” to set their goals for the day. They attend classes, cook their meals, prepare budgets, build shelters, and collect firewood for the wood-burning stoves. They also go on 12-day canoe and back-packing trips.

By working together to solve problems, the youths learn to take responsibility for their behavior. Counselors also encourage the kids to act in skits, sing, and play musical instruments to express themselves.

“These kids haven’t experienced childhood in a lot of cases,” says Mike Strauch, a regional director for the charity. “It’s important to learn to be able to laugh at oneself appropriately and be able to get in front of other people and sing.”