Camp4All takes homeless families to beautiful LA beaches for surfing recharging & play!

The Children’s Lifesaving Foundation’s Camp4All Summer Enrichment Program for homeless and at-risk youth will provide over 550 homeless, shelter-bound and at-risk children, teens and their parents from the L.A. county the unique experience of retreating to the beautiful beaches of Southern California-and learning to surf! Camp4All addresses the great need of homeless and at-risk children and teens and families living in LA-county-based shelters and transitional housing facilities to truly enjoy the feeling of being a child again- spending summer days at beautiful Zuma Beach in Malibu, CA, and experiencing a sense of relief, genuine emotional refreshment and feeling of renewed possibility- a truly invigorating and renewed sense of hope for the future. Families are also invited to attend- allowing for a truly incredible bonding experience, a “staycation” right in their own backyards! PLAY, in essence, is utilized as a means of connecting with their very best selves. This program was our very first program, and holds very special significance to us, as our three other program platforms grew out of the needs our original at-risk and homeless campers and initial homeless families through Camp4All. We have amazing Surf instructors who can actually get participants to stand up on the surfboard by the end of the day, have a great picnic lunch on the beach, and thoroughly enjoy the playground that is their own backyard in LA. In addition, we will have two overnight camps for the families and teens in our Vita Network- (which are families we have moved from homeless shelters and/or helped transform their lives through financial aid and domestic assistance.) Camp4All helps make LA the best place to play by showing its most at-risk citizens that ALL of LA is available to them- and can help change their lives in the process.

In the pas, we have evaluated this program both in-house and through the different participating agencies themselves. Metrics will include: Increase in self confidence, overcoming fear of the ocean/water, likelihood of returning with their family for a day outing and probability of picking up surfing again after the participants leave Camp4All.