DENVER — CampSeen, one of the only summer camps in the U.S. that focuses on queer youth of color, recently acquired 63 acres of land that the camp, located in Colorado, currently uses for programming.
“We will be launching here soon a $20 million capital campaign. The majority of this is to make (the camp) ADA accessible. We're making sure that we have our water in place, and also making sure that like, fire mitigation is a thing, as we are in an area that has a very high risk. So we want to make sure that all of our buildings and just the space at large is protected,” said Dr. Tara Jae, founder and executive director of YouthSeen.
CampSeen is a program and summer camp of YouthSeen, a nonprofit that provides mental health and wellness support to queer and transgender BIPOC youth. CampSeen started in 2019 and serves kids ages 10 to 18 years old.
“CampSeen came about from my childhood. I had the luxury and the privilege to be able to go to summer camp when I was growing up. And it has always been a part of how I rest and how I recover from things. So, I always knew that it needed to be a part of the programming for YouthSeen,” Dr. Jae said. “I think that there's a big impact on making sure that we're off the grid, we're not answering our phones, we're not answering emails, we're out in the woods.”
14-year-old Iliana Trujillo and 15-year-old Aaron Michaels credit CampSeen with helping them make lifelong friends.
“Before camp, I actually had no friends. I had a couple but it was more of like, ‘I see you when we're performing’. But then there's no like personal connection there. But camp is where I actually found personal connections with kids. And I got to experience that feeling of friendship with people who experienced the same thing as me,” Aaron said. “Being queer, I think, typically, around kids who aren't queer, I feel very left out. But also I feel very different. And it can be hard to make connections with them because they look at you and it feels like they've already made assumptions about you. And I'm used to, even when kids didn't know I was queer, I'm used to being rejected by kids, or them just trying to paint me out as the weird one. But with me going to camp. I didn't feel like I was weird…because it's almost like we're all weird.”
Aaron said he also enjoys the activities.
“Whether it's beauty, blinging things up, or whether you know, you learn about health, and all those things. It's definitely like a learning and growing experience. And I definitely noticed that I've also become a lot more mature, became more intuitive,” Aaron said.
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Iliana said she camp has helped her feel a sense of belonging.
“The amount of people that you meet just in a week span, the amount of bonds that you create in just seven days is amazing,” Iliana said. “I've also had my fair share of experiences with not only kids our age but with adults as well. You never know what someone's reaction is going to be when people find out you're queer… I've always had friends “ish”, but I've never had like, as many friends as I do here that I have, like, across my entire life, I guess like, from elementary school to high school.”
Iliana said she also enjoyed disconnecting from social media.
“The first time I had went to camp, it was a little challenging, like being like cut off... But after like, your first or second day there, you kind of just forget that you have outside things going on, you’re just focused on what's happening in the moment, rather than what's going on on Instagram or whatever social media,” Iliana said.
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