Investing in community to impact lives and improve conditions is the focused priority of the United Way of Tri-County. In response to community need, we have established three issue-focused funding priorities: Children and Families, Basic Human Needs, and Education. To meet the ever changing and increasing needs of these focus areas, The United Way of Tri-County has established separate Councils in which organizations are able to request funding. Each Council is structured to maximize the funding available and minimize the paperwork and response time necessary to make informed decisions.

Health & Wellness Camp for Children & Youth

The United Way of Tri-County is excited to begin work on a Health & Wellness Camp for Children & Youth in Sterling, MA.  Our newest initiative is being created in response to a growing need within our communities for an affordable summer day camp program that promotes healthy lifestyles.  We are asking that you assist us in the development of the camp.   

The prevalence of overweight and obese children and youth in the United States continues to rise at an alarming rate.  Rates of overweight children between the ages of 6-11 years have more than doubled within the past 20 years.  The rates of overweight youth ages 12-19 has more than tripled (JAMA 2002).  These numbers show a clear indication that obesity and overweight are leading health indicators.  Healthy People 2010 places overweight and obesity along with lack of physical activity on their list of leading health indicators that reflect the major health concerns in the United States at the beginning of the 21st Century.  We know that these health indicators are associated with the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, joint problems, discrimination and overall poor health in both adults and youth (CDC 2006).  In particular, the risk of Type 2 diabetes has increased in prevalence among children and youth.  The CDC estimates that one in three American children born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime. 

Meeting the Needs

Obesity and overweight are influenced by poor diet and inactivity.  Lack of access to sufficient health programs along with lack of structured curriculum and undocumented health outcome measurements influence the trend towards an unhealthy lifestyle.  The United Way Health & Wellness Camp for children and youth will work to combat those trends.  Our purpose is to provide a safe, healthy and fun environment that will promote the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual aspects of young person’s life.  This wellness approach will include a comprehensive health and wellness curriculum for ages 6-18 that are underserved within the United Way of Tri-County service area. 

Goals & Objectives

Our goal is to create a sense of community within the camp, a strong sense of self within the children and youth and a respect for individual differences.  Our objectives include learning alternative forms of physical activity (including yoga, karate, hiking, kayaking, and orienteering) within the extensive camp grounds; adopting healthy nutrition habits with programs in our state-of-the-art teaching facilities dealing with snacking, portion size, and balanced meals; building social and emotional skills (including relationship building, stress management, conflict resolution) and increasing intellectual ability (including test taking methods, memorization, comprehension and critical thinking).

Includes Parents

The concept of the United Way of Tri-County Health & Wellness Camp includes a parent/guardian component.  We understand that in order to make a lasting impression on the attitudes and behaviors of our children and youth, we must make a lasting impression on their parents/guardians.  To do this we will host evening dinner meetings with parents/guardians and invite parents to participate in a day event with their young person.  We will continue the communications with your camp participants and their families over the course of the year with a quarterly health and wellness newsletter and home activities along with recipe ideas and physical activity events at the camp throughout the year. 

Showing Results

In order to show our successes, we will develop an outcome measurement model.  This model will provide evidence for the necessity of the program and the benefits to our children and youth and their families.  Measurement tools will include Body Mass Index (BMI), flexibility, and cardiovascular measures as well as measures of social and emotional improvements through pre-and post-surveys, focus groups, individual interviews and observation.  We will continue to follow our participants and their families over the course of the year through mailed communications and email.  A camp website will highlight success stories and act as a resource for parents and young people in an effort to continue the learned behaviors and attitudes.

Community Collaboration

We believe our efforts will assist other youth organizations in replicating our successes.  A portion of the camp facility will house a training and conference center.  Within the facility, we will invite non-profit organizations to partner with us in distributing this program to other children and youth populations in need.  We believe that working with other organizations to improve the health and wellness needs of our young people and their families will make our message stronger and our communities healthier. 

Current Camp Facilities  vs.  United Way Health & Wellness Camp