Since 1967, Kostopulos Dream Foundation (Camp K) has been dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with disabilities through education, recreation, and growth opportunities. Our services are available to people of all abilities, levels of income, and place of residence. Our year-round programs provide opportunities for our participants to access and enjoy their community, the arts, sports, education, and adaptive recreation in the great outdoors. We also encourage them to stretch their imaginations, learn practical life skills, maximize their potential for independence, and build healthy bodies, minds, and spirits. The benefits from our programs create a ripple-effect, impacting not only their lives, but the lives of their families, friends, and ultimately our entire community.
Camp K is the only agency in a 500-mile radius offering the same level of inclusive services, including residential and travel Summer Camps, on-site year-round equine-facilitated therapy and therapeutic riding, as well as year-round recreation and leisure programs (including transportation) for people of all ages of all abilities (including those with physical and cognitive disabilities) and special medical needs.
Camp K is located on a 25 acre property in Emigration Canyon, near Salt Lake City, Utah. Our facilities include a lodge with office space and commercial kitchen/dining hall, 6 cabins, 3 yurts, swimming pool, bath house, infirmary, horse corral and stables, indoor equestrian center with stables and arena, high ropes course, low ropes course, zip line, sport court, activities field, stocked fishing pond, paved patio and fire-pit area, and multiple trails.
Kostopulos Dream Foundation has received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest Charity Evaluator. This is the highest ranking available, and is awarded based on commitment to transparency, accountability, and fiscal fitness.
Camp K serves individuals with disabilities including physical, cognitive, and emotional impairments, as well as special medical needs. Our services are available to people ages 7-99. Over the course of a year, we will serve more than 2,500 individuals with special needs. In addition to improving the quality of life for people with disabilities, our programs provide much-needed respite care to both these individuals and their families/caregivers.
The majority of our participants are from Utah, and are members of low income households. However, our Summer Camp program has included campers from all over the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Our programs are updated continuously to ensure that we are providing the highest level of service to our participants. We work closely with Utah’s Division of Services for People with Disabilities (DSPD) and other agencies to ensure that our policies and procedures are in line with current standards. We are accredited by the American Camping Association (ACA), which ensures that we provide the highest standards of care, safety, and services for our campers. We are the only ACA accredited camp in Utah that serves people with disabilities.
Kostopulos Dream Foundation serves people of all ages with disabilities including physical, cognitive, and emotional impairments, as well as special medical needs. Our participants include people with autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, neurofibromatosis, Prader Willi, organ transplants (liver, kidney, or heart), spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, vision/hearing impairments, amputees, developmental/learning delays, ADHD, learning disabilities, veterans with PTSD, and others.
Camp K utilizes Therapeutic Recreation as the basis for our programs. We achieve positive outcomes through positive support.
The two main theories that are used in the Kostopulos Dream Foundation’s therapeutic recreation (TR) services are the Humanistic and Behaviorist approach. The Humanistic approach emphasizes the importance of personal choice, individual freedom and the right and responsibilities of individuals to be in control of their own lives.
The following concepts are used to define the Humanistic approach: a holistic view of the person; both children and adults are capable of change; each individual has dignity and worth; people are in dynamic interactions with the environment, not just reacting to the external world; healthy people strive for personal satisfaction, yet go beyond their own needs to understand and care about others; people express a tendency toward self-actualization.
These concepts indicate that people both can, and desire to, improve their quality of life. The Kostopulos Dream Foundation’s mission statement, to improve the quality of life of individuals with disabilities through education, recreation, and growth opportunities, is based upon this premise.
The Behavioristic approach is used as a way to manage the participants’ behaviors in therapeutic recreation programs. Behavioral techniques such as positive reinforcement, modeling, prompting, behavioral contracts and time-outs can be used to extinguish inappropriate behaviors. These same techniques may also be used to teach appropriate leisure skills. It is not the purpose of the Kostopulos Dream Foundation’s TR programs to change behavior. The purpose of this organization is to provide opportunities for recreation and leisure, and to teach new skills that will help the participants gain more independence in their lives.
The purpose of therapeutic recreation services at the Kostopulos Dream Foundation is to provide opportunities and experiences in recreation and leisure activities, and to teach the skills needed in a health leisure lifestyle such as: leisure awareness, leisure barriers, decision making, social skills, and self-awareness.
At the beginning of each program (week of Summer Camp, or Community Based Activities), an intake process is completed with each participant. During that process, our staff helps the participant/caregiver set Goals and Objectives that will be focused on during the program. Some Goal examples are increasing concentration/attention span, increasing strength, increasing social skills, improving attitudes leading to a healthy lifestyle. Objectives then translate into specific actions that the participant will take (with our staff’s help) to achieve their goals and demonstrate that they have gained a new skill. Objectives are specific, measurable, and achievable. An example is: camper will introduce themselves to one new person each day, by maintaining eye contact, shaking their hand, and asking their name, as observed by staff.”
Our staff documents each participant’s progress on the Camper evaluation form, indicating how well the participant did overall, and specifically toward meeting their goals and objectives.
Additionally, at the end of each program, an evaluation form is given to each participant/caregiver, to evaluate how Camp K did at meeting the needs of the participant. We look forward to receiving this feedback, so that we can continue to improve our processes, and deliver the best possible service to our participants.
We consider our programs successful when we can see that our participants have demonstrated increased skills and independence, and have enjoyed the activities. Some of the specific skills and ability increases that we see include: increased ability to focus, increased eye contact, improved communication skills, ability to follow directions, physical endurance, willingness to participate/try new things, trunk control, and increased mental, emotional, and physical strength. Additionally, our participants demonstrate an increase ability to interact appropriately in social settings.
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