Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind

BUILDING BLIND AMBITION

I’ve definitely matured and realized that I can do anything – that my vision shouldn’t limit what I do.”

15-year-old camper Ellie

BUILDING BLIND AMBITION LightHouse and its extended blind community recently reimagined a daring new Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind. Drawing on nearly 120 years of experience, LightHouse is poised to build out the camp to become a national year-round center for discovery, learning and life transformation for the blind and those with low vision.

The Building Blind Ambition campaign is laying the foundation to make Enchanted Hills Camp the premiere camp and retreat in the West, and beyond.

THE ONLY CAMP IN THE WEST DEDICATED TO SERVING THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED For 70 years, Enchanted Hills Camp has been a remarkable center where blind campers immerse themselves in a community of peers and allies, people who know the truth about blindness.

Through our Building Blind Ambition campaign, Enchanted Hills will continue these traditions of summer-based programs offered nowhere else. Now we’re building a first-of-its-kind, year-round natural center for blindness learning. Blind campers and their

families will connect with mentors in new, beautiful outdoor places with miles of cane-detectible trails in the redwoods. Blind kids are often left on the sidelines, sitting on the bench while sighted kids participate in sports, hands-on projects and science labs. At the new Enchanted Hills Camp they will participate in nearly everything their sighted peers enjoy at other camps.

There aren’t too many kids who are visually impaired at my school. At Enchanted Hills I’m just like everyone else.”

Milo Kroh, age 11

THE MODERNIZED ENCHANTED HILLS CAMP

WILL FEATURE:

• Winterized family cabins and youth bunkhouses • A unique, covered outdoor dining pavilion • Tactile Arts Center • Tech and STEM Center • An indoor/outdoor Training Kitchen for learning to cook using blindness techniques • New, accessible, spacious Pool House • New, accessible Enchanted Hills Farm • An idyllic treehouse perched above camp • Essential camp infrastructure updates

EHC BELIEVES THAT

GREEN IS BEAUTIFUL

Green initiatives include: • A net-zero energy footprint, helped by a modern photovoltaic solar system • 100% camp-wide recycling and composting • Vegetable gardens and fruit orchards for campers to experience growing nutritious food • Tripling the miles of accessible hiking trails and adding remote sleeping platforms With all these improvements, the new camp will keep 93 percent of our 311-acre property wild.

New Building

Existing Building

CAREFUL DESIGN AND PRIORITIZATION OF

OUTDOOR GATHERING SPACES Our plan includes an open-air Redwood Grove Theater, trailside program spaces at the Wing Creek and Upper Wing Creek chapels, shaded sports court, farm animal area and a lovely outdoor welcome center for arriving campers. Add to that touchless faucets and more-spacious cabins and we’ll take pride in our healthy camp.

SOCIAL JUSTICE IN ACTION While blindness can affect anyone, there is a higher incidence within very low-income families due to unequal access to healthcare and other forms of discrimination. We accept all young people who

are blind, regardless of their ability to pay. Half of Enchanted Hills

campers are Black, Latinx, Asian and other people of color. The majority of campers live in low- and moderate-income households.

Blind camp levels the playing field for campers from all backgrounds, resulting in increased confidence and ultimately, better educational and employment success.

Our 2019 teen camper survey reported:

75%

94%

of campers reported increased confidence and self-esteem

reported increased connection to blind friends and the blind community

75%

70%

reported expanded blindness skills such as independent living and white cane skills

of EHC staff are blind or have low vision (a rarity among camps for the blind)

ENCHANTED HILLS REIMAGINED

WHY NOW?

The 2017 wildfires gave us a unique opportunity to speed up LightHouse’s existing plans to upgrade the 70-year-old rustic camp.

For decades we’ve wanted to winterize our cabins and make the trails and buildings fully accessible. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new urgency to build healthful outdoor learning and gathering spaces.

In January 2021, Napa County granted us the conditional legal entitlements to rebuild our facilities after the fire, but only if all construction is under way no later than October 2022. This is why now is the time for generous capital donations to help us achieve our dream.

We saw other campers in this rugged environment— enjoying activities, navigating their surroundings and achieving. It shifted how we thought about Henry’s vision and his future.”

Henry’s Parents

GET INVOLVED:

BUILD BLIND AMBITION at ENCHANTED HILLS CAMP TRANSFORM LIVES The Building Blind Ambition campaign will result in more immersive programs, for more campers, more often. The up-front capital cost to build our world-class camp, retreat and learning center will impact blind lives for the next 100 years.

RECOGNITION Your capital gift will Build Blind Ambition.

Naming and memorial opportunities are available for significant contributions.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW YOU CAN HELP, please contact: giving@lighthouse-sf.org 415-694-7333