CLOSED WEEKS: June 13 - 18 This week is closed because about 100 have already registered for this week. The other weeks are open.
HOW WAS CAMP LAST SUMMER? During Summer Work Camp 2009, 25 churches brought a total of 500 volunteersand over the 8 week camp they renovated 17 damaged homes. We expect Summer Work Camp 2010 to be bigger and better than ever! Come be a part of the experience! Email yp1005@txstate.edu to put your church on our "SWC Interested" list if you are considering registering for SWC 2010.
CAMPBASICS:
Every summer, dozens of youth groups from all over the country come to San Marcos to renovate the homes of disadvantaged local families. This program has been a well-known staple of the San Marcos community for over 20 years and it is still going strong. The more hands we have to help, the more homes we are able to renovate.
They put God's love in action by getting to work on the homes of the poor, elderly, or disabled. Summer Work Camp is our biggest program, and a life-changing experience for the homeowners and campers. Every year we look forward to the new batch of campers that come through. Without them, the lives of so many local families would be completely different.
The campers do renovations like roof repair or replacement, painting, construction for mobility/handicap issues like ramp installation, new flooring and windows, replacing decrepid walls, appliances, and so much more. Each families' needs are different, and Southside addresses these needs on an individual basis. We continue to help supply families with safe and secure dwellings, while encouraging leadership, teamwork and an altruistic experience for the youth.
It's not all work and no play. Campers can enjoy floating the San MarcosRiver, and a day at New Braunfel's Schlitterbahn Waterpark. Campers and their adult sponsors get to stay at the dorms on the TexasStateUniversity campus. Most meals and lodging are included in the cost of the camp. See the schedule below for more information. There is no size limit to the youth groups that work. We'll register your group of 5 or 55! The more the merrier.
WHEN CAN YOU COME? This is an 8-week camp and you choose 1 of the 8 weeks to come. Below are your choices. IMPORTANT: If you do not register early, you may not get your first choice of which week you want. If a week gets too full, we shut it down to even out the camp. Email yp1005@txstate.edu to see if your week is available. (We can usually grant you your first preference)The start date shown below is the Sunday you arrive in San Marcos and the finish date shown below is the Friday of camp, the day before you leave for home
June 6 - 11
June 13-18
June 20 - 25
June 27 - July 2
July 4 - 9
July 11 - 16
July 18 - 23
July 25 - 30
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Will our church get a house to ourselves / How much do we work with other churches? Usually the groups stay together on the various worksites, but if certain jobs on the homes require special groups then we split up the groups to work with other churches. This just means, if demolition or roof replacement (big serious jobs) are going on at one home, and another home is finished and just needs a coat of paint (not so serious jobs that require less workers), we might split your youth up and have a few stay and paint while others go rip up the old roof or do demo work! The magic number is ABOUT 15 max on a jobsite. When you have more than 15 people on a house, it increases the likelihood of injuries and/or not enough work for everybody there. HOWEVER, this doesn’t mean we can guarantee if you come with 30 people you’ll only be on 2 homes, you might be on 3…...Going with the flow is helpful in this process and it leads to happy campers, being productive and satisfied with the camp experience.
What are the dorms like? Do we get to pick roomate assignments?
You will stay in either Falls Hall or Butler Hall - Follow the links below for more information about these dorms. In both dorms, you'll have community style bathrooms, which means you walk down the hall a bit to get to the bathroom where there are individual stalls and showers. Girls and boys halls are separated by wing and floor. You choose your roomate assignments, but you must give them to the camp director before you arrive (about 20 days before you arrive) The dorms are conveniently located in walking distance to good places to eat and, a $2 ticket movie theatre and our beautiful downtown square. There will not be college kids living in the dorms over the summer when your campers will be there, except for the RA’s who watch over the campers in the dorms. There will be other youth camps in the dorms sporadically, and they’ll be of similar age groups.
For Butler: http://www.reslife.txstate.edu/Housing-Options/residence-halls/Butler.html
For Falls: http://www.reslife.txstate.edu/Housing-Options/residence-halls/Falls.html
Do the homeowners work side-by-side with the campers? They are not required to work on the jobsites, but some of them do. The elderly or disabled homeowners, however, don’t visit the worksites for safety reasons.
Do we need to bring our own tools for the jobsites? No. We will provide the tools you need. However, it can sometimes be beneficial for churches to bring some of their own tools IF they already have them. This is helpful for the big weeks where there are lots of campers and lots of big jobs going on. Our “supply guys” run around town bringing worksites the tools they need. If a church brings some of their own tools from home it can cut down on waiting time. Note: If you bring your own tools you are responsible for making sure they leave with you, and don’t go out and buy tools to bring – If you already own some and wouldn’t mind packing them, feel free. It’s difficult however to know exactly what tools you’ll need before you arrive…See the next question
When do we find out EXACTLY what work we’ll be doing? That’s a tough one. This is nearly impossible to answer. The work your group does relies heavily on what the group before you was able to accomplish. So if a church wraps up a project much quicker than anticipated right before your group comes in, you’ll be moving on to another worksite. Since churches are coming one after another all summer, we plan as much as possible, but each church has a different skill set and ability to get the work done in a certain amount of time. We don’t push churches to do the impossible, we just expect the campers to do their best
Will we be able to start and finish a job in the week we’re there? Some worksites can be started on Monday (the first work day) and be totally done by Thursday (your last work day) BUT this is rare. Usually, your church will go into a house that has already been worked on by another church right before you. Mostly, every church builds on the work of a previous church. So this means your church could be on various jobsites at a time, if you have a large group.
WHO ARE THE HOMEOWNERS? The homeowners who live in the homes we renovate all meet federal poverty guidelines, and are on social security, disability benefits, foodstamps, and/or other welfare programs. They are all extremely poor. Everybody is feeling the pressure of today's poor economy, but nobody suffers as much as the already impoverished families. Families who were barely hanging on a few years ago, have found it impossible to make ends meet. The homeowners we help during Summer Work Camp are incapable of making these major repairs to their homes because it is costly work. They struggle to pay their bills and put food on the table, so for years the condition of the homes worsen. They're often overwhelmed by the compassion of the campers that travel from far and wide to do life-changing work for them.
WHAT KIND OF RENOVATIONS: The homes have combinations of decrepid roofs, floors, plumbing, electricity, walls, windows, and other serious problems. The past few summers, the homeowners have told horror stories about ceilings and floors slowly caving in, leaky plumbing causing rotting, and other dangerous living conditions. We can help with mobility issues like ramps for handicapped homeowners, and try to meet other special needs of the homeowners. The campers do not work in homes that are potentially dangerous to their health (asbestos, lead-based environments).
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
Student campers (12-19) $395
Adult sponsors (20 and up) $295
This includes everything - lodging at the dorms on campus at TexasStateUniversity, all meals (with the exceptions below), tickets to Schlitterbahn, tubing the San MarcosRiver, and a fraction of the cost of supplies and contractors for the worksite.
Meals not included: Sunday evening when you arrive in San Marcos, Tuesday night freetime IF you opt out of the meal provided, food at Schlitterbahn and that evening, breakfast the morning you depart - So you pay separately for 4 meals (5 max)
WHAT TO BRING:
·Enough money for meals / excursions that are not included in the cost of the camp (Dinner when you arrive in San Marcos, Tuesday night free-time, lunch and dinner on Friday at Schlitterbahn, breakfast on Saturday when you leave)
·Bed sheets, blanket, pillow for the dorm beds
A towel for showering up at the dorms
·1 check from your church with your balance (after figuring in your pre-paid deposits of $30 each person)
·A medical & consent release form for each camper (we provide the form)
·Work clothes for 4 days and comfortable shoes
·Bathing suit and towel for tubing and Schlitterbahn Waterpark
A first aid kit for each church (We will provide several, but want to make sure we have one on each site)
GETTING READY FOR CAMP: AT LEAST 15 days before you arrive, please email yp1005@txstate.edu with the following information:
1. The names of each camper and adult that will be coming with your group
2. An updated count of how many kids / adults you're bringing (These are called "guarantee numbers," meaning we guarantee the dorms you'll have this amount of people, so if your guarantee numbers change we have to pay for that empty bed - See cancellation information)
3. The number of parking permits you will need (How many vehicles are you bringing)
4. Any food allergies or special needs any camper or adult might have
5. The roomate assignments of your campers (Who's bunking with who) - There are two people per room. If you bring an odd number of people of one gender then that second bed in that person's room will be assigned to someone of the same gender from a different church, sometimes, depending on if other churches also brought an odd number of one gender. If it is important to you that that odd person out does NOT room with somebody from another church then you must pay to keep that bed empty (the dorm's policy, not our's). To keep that bed empty it costs $108.
6. Any construction experience your group overall has, or particular adults in the group
7. The names of the adults who will be driving the church vans / vehicles (for worksite assignment purposes)
Cancellation Information:
If you have somebody cancel in the last 15 days before you arrive for camp, there is a $80 cancellation fee. Unfortunately, we are charged for beds at the dorms even if they are empty if there is a last minute cancellation. The "guarantee numbers" we send the dorms are what we are charged for, regardless. So for each camper that cancels after you've passed the 15-days-before-you-arrive point, add $80 to your balance.
