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The Camps

Scheduled Heritage Camps in 2010. Watch for updated information throughout the year. Just click on the links below to visit the camp you are interested in.

2010 Camp Dates

What makes Colorado Heritage Camps special?
Adoptive families, plus...

The philosophy of Colorado Heritage Camps is that it's never too early or too late for adopted children and their families to take part in this valuable experience. The camps are for parents and children (ages 3 to 17), with childcare available for toddlers and infants. Birth siblings, siblings adopted from another culture, aunts, uncles, grandparents, alumni campers and alumni parents are all welcome. Once adoptees turn 18, they are welcome to apply to be camp counselors or volunteers, and adult adoptees of all ages are most welcome to come to camp, and bring their families and children too.

Our Outstanding Workshops for the Entire Family

Each time a national adoption conference roster of speakers is announced, it is amazing how many of them have been to one or more of the Colorado Heritage Camps. For parents, each camp is a mini adoption and parenting conference, offering highly regarded speakers and vital information to assist parents in the rearing of adopted children—of all children really. For the children and teens, we have also been fortunate to tap into teachers and performers that make each camp a fun cultural learning experience and a chance for kids of all ages to learn about what makes them who they are.

These age appropriate workshops emphasize the adoptee’s culture, and may include language, dance, folktales, traditional songs, games, food, and arts and crafts. Most of the workshops are very interactive environments for kids as well: colorful marketplaces to shop in, houses to play in, villages to visit, veritable cultural centers of sights and sounds. For the middle school and high school campers, there are opportunities for raft trips, canoeing, zip lines, and climbing walls, as well as culturally relevant activities that mimic pop culture phenomena like "Survivor" and "Amazing Race", and even "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" at some of our camps.

Our Cultural Community Involvement

Each year over 800 people from our various ethnic communities join us at camp, as teachers, performers, and counselors. Though adoptive parents usually coordinate the workshops and programs, we pride ourselves in the fact that it is the cultural community who often creates the activities and content of the workshops and always teach them. Children and teens get to see faces like theirs in every workshop. Most importantly, they are able to bond with young adult counselors as mentors and friends, often long after camp is over.

Our Volunteerism

There are just three paid staff members that work for Colorado Heritage Camps, and run ten camps for nearly 4,000 people every summer. How do they do it? With an incredible support network of volunteers! The Board of Directors is made up of volunteer parents and adult adoptees, who help manage the organization, from fundraising to marketing to programming, and beyond. Adoptive parents volunteer to direct each camp, and coordinate every aspect from the workshops for all ages, the meals, the opening and closing ceremonies, the marketplaces, the evening events and activities, and more. Plus, every parent volunteers during camp for part of the time to help things run smoothly. Below you will see how dedicated our cultural communities are to heritage camp. ALL of our counselors are volunteers, and the vast majority of our presenters and teachers are as well, and many work with us to strengthen the camps throughout the year. The back bone of this organization is its volunteers! Join us by clicking here.

As one presenter put it a few years ago, "Thank you for having me come and share my culture with your campers. I've never had a more enthusiastic audience!"

Our Inclusiveness

Colorado Heritage Camps is adamant about being inclusive of all types of families and every child. Our "official" non-discrimination policy states, "We do not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental handicap, marital status, or national and ethnic origin." In our hearts, every family is welcome to attend camp and every family is accepted without question. We are all in this together!

Our Worldwide Reach

We are proud of the fact that people come from far and wide to attend our heritage camps in Colorado. 40 states have been represented (where are the other 10?), including Alaska and Hawaii. We have also had participants from Korea, India, China, England, Canada, Guatemala, Australia, and the Middle East. Join us from wherever YOU are - we're here for you!

Our Ethnic Food

At each camp, families share in ethnic lunches, prepared and served by parent volunteers, often with donations from some of Colorado's delicious ethnic restaurants, and generous community members. There is always a natural sense of community that occurs around food, and our camp lunches are the epitome of that!

Our HeART Talks Program

This exclusive program of Colorado Heritage Camps, Inc. was developed in 2001. Since each of the Colorado Heritage Camps are about the heritage of culture as well as the heritage of adoption, the overall goal of this program provide a vital opportunity for transracially adopted children, from preschool through 5th grade, to express, verbally and non-verbally, their feelings and thoughts about their adoption experience, identity issues, feelings of racism, etc. through carefully chosen, developmentally appropriate art workshops, which are very nurturing and provide a reassuring atmosphere to express thoughts and feelings for all ages. Parents receive a handout at camp explaining each activity per age group and are welcome to ask questions of the licensed art therapists who run the program. The sessions also provide an opportunity for non-adopted siblings to share their feelings, which have often proven to be quite profound. The program coordinator is also a transracial adoptee herself.

As one mother at Chinese Heritage Camp last year said in her evaluation, "HeART Talks is very good for my child - it is one of the main reasons we come to camp - to give her the chance to talk about being adopted with someone other than her father and me."

or older adoptees in the middle and high school groups, there are also opportunities to express feelings, ask questions, and learn from each other and adult adoptee mentors through panel discussions, round tables, and usually very informally with counselors and fellow adoptees. Through most of our activities and workshops for this age group, we are striving to form bonding opportunities for teens that will carry them through into adulthood.

Our Cultural Markets

Each Heritage Camp boasts a market where families may purchase a wide variety of beautiful cultural merchandise, including a HUGE selection of books, music, DVDs, toys, games, artifacts, food, home decor, and more unique items to bring your child's culture home. Many of the items come directly from the countries of origin and support the artisans in that country.

Our Festive "After Hours" Events

When the workshops are over for the day, each camp offers fun and festive events for families to enjoy together, including festivals, concerts with outstanding cultural performers, dance performances and much more! At least one evening at most of the camps, the campers have a chance to show their families what they learned at camp. Some of the camps also provide supervised get togethers just for the middle school or high school campers to be able to spend more time together in a fun, safe environment.

Our More Than Me Program

This trademark program of Colorado Heritage Camps, Inc. established in 2006 by Executive Director, Pam Sweetser as a way for our adolescent campers to give back to the places where they came from. Through the various More Than Me projects, our campers have raised over $18,000 for more than 25 different organizations doing good works around the world in the past three years. Read more about our More Than Me projects at http://www.heritagecamps.org/morethanme.html

Our Beautiful Rocky Mountain Settings

Though we are not directly affiliated with theYMCA of the Rockies, we are fortunate to be able to use their Snow Mountain Ranch facilities in Fraser, Colorado for 6 out of 10 of our camps. A family vacation destination in itself, Snow Mountain Ranch is nestled on 5,100 acres in a beautiful wilderness setting just two hours west of Denver.

Most everything you would like in a Colorado mountain vacation package is right there,including hiking, fishing, canoeing, swimming, roller skating, volleyball, tennis, horseback riding, hayrides, and MORE! Snow Mountain Ranch is located a few miles west of the ski resort, Winter Park, which has a full roster of summertime fun and activities. Snow Mountain is also just a few miles east of Granby and Grand Lake, Colorado, both of which boast many summer activities, including boating on large lakes (for Colorado). Forget that expensive skiing in Colorado -summer is the BEST and most beautiful time to be here!
Our camp in Winter Park, Colorado will be held at the Winter Park Mountain Lodge, Winter Park is a Colorado ski resort in the winter, and a summer playground! In Winter Park, you can get into the beautiful Colorado high country on a mountain bike, horseback, or by hiking. Take an exciting rafting trip through thrilling Colorado rivers. Get the feel of the real West by climbing aboard a horse-drawn wagon or stagecoach. Or take a spectacular balloon ride above it all. There's never a lack of something to do during our glorious summer time in Winter Park, Colorado!

Our camp in Estes Park, Colorado will be held at the Estes Park Conference Center and the surrounding area. Estes Park is a true Colorado small town, with lots of fun things to do and see. It is a great place for a family to spend a few days or more on the front or back end of their heritage camp experience. In Estes Park, you can find world class hiking and climbing, fishing, golfing, sightseeing, wildlife watching, galleries, unique shopping, dining choices, lodging and events. With Rocky Mountain National Park out the back door, there's something in Estes Park just for you.

For the heritage camps held in Denver, there are many culturally-rich opportunities to explore in the urban environment as well as lots of fun things to do in the city for the entire family! Plus the mountains are a mere one to two-hour drive from Denver, so can be an easy day trip for families visiting the Mile High City.

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Colorado Heritage Camps | Denver, CO USA
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