Camp Loyaltown

Desiree

Camp Loyaltown is set in the Catskill Mountains in the small township of Hunter, New York State about 3 and half hours from New York City. Camp Loyaltown is a special needs camp that caters for mentally and physically disabled adults and children. The types of disabilities would vary from camper to camper but the more common ones were: Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Cognitive disabilities, Development disabilities, Epilepsy, Hearing or Visually impaired, Non-verbal, Muscular Dystrophy, Brain injury, Behavior difficulties as well as a range of physical disabilities.

Camp would run from 18 June to 20 August and we would get only one week of training before the first session of campers arrived on the 24th. I was going to be a cabin counselor so I would be living in the cabins along with the campers and have consistent contact with them.
Even with my supreme lack of inexperience I was thrown head first into one of the most ‘challenging’ cabins on camp. I soon got the hang of things, but it wasn’t easy. For the first two weeks our cabin had teenage girls with behavior problems. Camp was hard - we were expected to work 16-hour days and the communal sleeping quarters made for sleepless nights. We worked 6 day weeks with only an hour free each day for ourselves.
We dealt with toileting, showering, teeth brushing and every aspect of the girl’s personal hygiene you can imagine. This was probably the hardest job I have ever worked (especially considering the crap pay) but it was also the most rewarding.


It was an experience that I will never forget. It is one of the most challenging and rewarding things I have done yet. Whenever I thought I couldn’t change one more diaper, deal with one more tantrum or get out of bed at 2am there was always something that kept me going. Their smiles when they made something in arts and crafts, dunked me in the pool or held a frog. Or the look of joy that spread across the girl’s faces when we got them on stage to dance to Britney Spears. Hard work, but worth it! In my days off I also got to experience some of the beauty of the Catskill Mountains and small town American culture.


I also meet some really great people - especially the beautiful British Claire, who road tripped it with me to New York for a weekend break in the middle of camp, for some well needed partying and a chance to use a bathroom with a door! Of course like everywhere, there were a few truly awful people too, those who were there to help themselves more than others.
When the 20th of August came around I was well and truly ready to leave camp and head to New York and meet up with Jared.