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In Our Own Back Yards: an interfaith, service-based summer camp experience designed to open the eyes of campers to the harsh reality of poverty in the Charlotte Mecklenburg community.
In Our Own Backyards Youth Summer Camp July 22-25 2010 Click here to download application and brochure Purpose: Too often we hear the phrase, "Not in MY Backyard." Well, Mecklenburg Ministries is excited about our 4th summer camp which proclaims, "In Our Own Backyard."
The teen participants (rising10th, 11th or 12th graders) will learn a lot about their "backyard" of Charlotte as they take the city bus everywhere they go. They will discover who rides public transportation and what it means to be dependent on public transit (especially if it rains!) The campers will experience a "Poverty Simulation," serve at various agencies throughout the city, interview homeless neighbors, explore Christian, Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, Muslim and Baha’i faith traditions, and participate in the “Changing Places” exhibit at The Levine Museum of the New South. There also is a surprise mission immersion experience for the youth during the week.
Event Details:
When: Thursday, July 22 – Sunday July 25, 2010 Application deadline: April 16, 1010 (including essay and letter of reference) In the past the camp had brought together youth from the Christian, Jewish, Baha’i, Muslim and Unitarian Universalist faiths and Latino, Caucasian, African American, Persian and Arab ethnicities. Testimonial: Here's what 2007 Alumni Youth Camper Lucy Bierer had to say about the camp: "We see homeless people everyday. Some of us ignore them, some of us look at them and wonder why they don't get a job and improve their lives. What I learned through the poverty simulation is that it is not as easy as it seems. Those who are less fortunate than us, those who are poor and homeless, work just as hard, if not harder, than the working class. In the Poverty Simulation, I was married and a mother of two. We had $125 in our bank account and my husband had lost his job. During the days I went out trying to sell our household items and get welfare payments while my husband searched for jobs. I was turned down at the pawn shop and welfare only paid enough for food. My husband couldn't get a job, his skills were not in as large demand as before. We were evicted from our home with nowhere to turn. Luckily for us, five minutes later (when the simulation was over) my poverty nightmare ended, but for others it continues on and on. Being poor is a fulltime job and I learned that rather than looking away and pretending like I don't see them...figure out a way to help. The poor are no different than me or anyone else in this room and they deserve our respect. The poverty simulation taught me to look at the poor as equals. I know now that I will do anything I can to help whether it be giving them clothes or listening to their stories. Everyone deserves a helping hand. - Lucy is a member of Temple Beth El |
