Camp Trailblazers encourages youth with facial differences across Canada to develop life skills and the confidence to become supportive, contributing and integrated members of their communities.
For over 100,000 youth, growing up with a facial difference creates barriers to friendships, opportunities and aspirations. Adolescence is an emotionally turbulent time. For youth with facial disfigurements the additional challenge of ridicule, rejection and alienation increases their stress, fear and anxiety. Negative attention like staring & teasing, prevents them from engaging in opportunities that promote life, social and leadership skills to enable them to become active members of society.
Camp Trailblazers is a supportive, non-judgemental program designed to help youth with facial differences expand their social and leadership skills, develop trust in others and build self-esteem and confidence. Camp encourages physical, social, mental and emotional development. It provides a safe forum to discuss personal challenges of growing up with a facial difference and creates life long friends that continue beyond the camp experience for support year round.
The long term impact of Camp Trailblazers is the mental and emotional development and growth of the individual child. They learn to accept themselves, enable them to see their own potential and that of others. With a secure sense of belonging, they learn to work effectively with others in team building and problem solving activities. This experience helps them believe in themselves and puts them on the path to becoming supportive, contributing and integrated members of our communities.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).
