We Do Upstream For Families Like This!
A home visit told the story
Jennifer saw an Upstream Camp Flyer on the bulletin board at a Fred Meyer store. As a special needs family, she wondered if she and her son would be accepted at the camp. Many others had already rejected her. As Jennifer registered for Upstream, she…
…came to the “pay for camp” section on the webpage. The first options was “free” if the parent volunteered. Jennifer did not feel she could volunteer, as she was not fully mobile. She uses a scooter and walker due to Multiple Sclerosis and other serious ailments. As we talked in her home, Jennifer said she has a difficult time finding a church because she is profoundly deaf.
As Jennifer registered for camp a week before I visited her home, she considered the next pay option, which was $150 for a parent who stayed at camp and watched their child full-time. Jennifer could partially watch her son, but he is autistic and learning-disabled–ADHD, PTSD, anxiety. He is 10 years old. He is going into the fifth grade, but he attends a day treatment program. Jennifer would have to stay with him at all times to keep him regulated.
When Jennifer reached the final option—$350 for full care—she decided to contact me. Her email began: “I really want to bring my son to Upstream Camp. I don’t have the registration fee right now. We are on a very tight budget.” After learning more about her family needs, I wrote back, “I do hope Upstream Camp works out for you and your son! What might be a way I can communicate with you personally? I could do a home visit, for example.”
In her home, I became confident that God had prepared Upstream Camp for Jennifer and her son, Quentin. I let her know that God had used a generous donor last Fall to help Upstream Camp stay viable, and that a church was willing to sponsor her and her son to attend at no cost. Jennifer was elated. “This is the best thing that has happened to us this summer,” she said!
Thank you, donors and supporters, for believing in Highest Education’s ministry to bring the Light of God to families like this one! If you haven’t shared your treasure with this ministry, below is an opportunity to do so.
– Yours in Christ, William Hurtado