BELWOOD – Some of the lodgers at Belwood Lodge and Camp have been coming to the camp for decades, but their summers there may soon be numbered, as the not-for-profit works to find the funding needed to stay afloat.
“The huge thing is … we were ordered that we have to put in a new septic system,” said camp board president Cheri Fitzpatrick.
Affectionately known to the camp lodgers and staff as “Tigger,” Fitzpatrick once worked as a nurse at the camp, and is now part of the volunteer board of directors that oversees camp operations.
She knows first-hand the value the camp has for those people who spend weeks there each year – and for their families, too.
“This is home to them,” Fitzpatrick said of the adults with intellectual disabilities who come to the camp.
“And that’s the whole reason we exist … to give these people a happy experience out in the fresh air.”
For the families, it provides respite from the demands of caring for someone with an intellectual disability, as well as reassurance that their family member is engaged in a positive holiday experience where they are safe and supported and can make friends.
The camp, which has been around since 1946, is an overnight summer camp that provides recreation for children, youth and adults with intellectual disabilities.
The first week of the summer is typically set aside for children and youth aged 18 and under, and the remainder of the summer is “all catered toward adults,” co-program director Graeme Halfyard explained during a recent tour of the camp.
“There are people who stay for three weeks at a time … then there are people who are here pretty much their entire summer,” he said.
The camp has accessible cabins built in the early 2000s, an outdoor amphitheatre space overlooking Belwood Lake, a barn for indoor programming, sports fields, a dining hall and a swimming pool.
Belwood Lodge’s colourful cabins were installed in the early 2000s, making the camp more accessible.
Photo by Jessica Lovell
Halfyard said the camp is unique in that it is specifically designed for people with intellectual disabilities.
While some other camps might attempt to be inclusive and accessible to those with disabilities, their needs may not come first.
Whereas at Belwood, “they are front and centre. Everything is catered toward them,” Halfyard said. “They can engage and enjoy themselves and be themselves.”
The camp was established by the local Kiwanis Club in the 1940s, and the club has held the lease on the property ever since. That is until this year, when the camp and Kiwanis made the difficult decision to change the arrangement.
“Kiwanis has financially had to pull out after 78 years of supporting camp,” said Fitzpatrick. “They can’t do it anymore.”
Kiwanis Club of Guelph president Heather Fleming further explained the situation.
“The current annual commitment is between $18,000 and $20,000,” Fleming told the Advertiser in an email.
She stated Belwood Lodge had asked the club to negotiate a 10-year lease with the Grand River Conservation Authority, which owns the property upon which the camp sits.
Previous leases had been for only five years, but the camp needed the longer lease in order to apply for grants, Fleming said.
“With an aging and declining membership, it is not feasible for our club to offer this degree of financial commitment for 10 years into the future,” she explained.
The Kiwanis Club turned the lease over to the camp in the spring, but its volunteers continue to be involved, doing things like grounds keeping, cabin repair and painting.
The club will also continue to offer financial assistance to the camp “as long as we are able to do so,” Fleming said, adding the club has asked the camp to submit its request for financial support in writing.
A staff member guides a lodger to the camp’s barn, which serves as a programming space.
Photo by Jessica Lovell
In the meantime, the cost of the septic system is the big hit with which the camp will have to contend.
“It’s $600,000. That was our latest quote,” said Fitzpatrick.
The existing system is aging, and is located too close to the shore of Belwood Lake to meet current Ministry of Environment regulations.
The camp is hoping for community support to help fund the project, and has launched a GoFundMe initiative to start donations rolling in.
The campaign goal is set at $30,000, but Fitzpatrick said Belwood Lodge is hoping private corporate sponsorships and government grants will also help to pay for the project.
She said the new septic system needs to be in place by spring of 2028, and ideally the work would be complete the preceding fall.
The number of lodgers at camp dropped off following the COVID-19 pandemic, and increasing those numbers would help financially, Fitzpatrick said.
But, she explained, the camp is limited by its ability to recruit and retain qualified staff.
“We have staff come and it changes their lives,” she said, noting some go on to be educational assistants, nurses, and personal support workers.
Others simply move on.
But Fitzpatrick said the camp is undoubtably special to the lodgers who have stayed there over the years.
“The main thing that has occurred is our lodgers have had a great time, and they’re happy,” Fitzpatrick said.
For more information on how to contribute to the camp, visit belwoodlodgeandcamp.com/support-us.
