Camp Hope: A way for families to connect

With all the talk of the sequester cuts, one program that hasn’t been affected by Washington is “Camp Hope.” “Camp Hope” is a week-long summer camp that gives children the opportunity to spend time with fathers who are serving sentences in a maximum security prison. It is the first of its kind, where inmate dads who complete a parenting program and have a clear conduct for a year before the camp are given the opportunity dance, play basketball, and hang out with their children during the day.

“Whatever you think of the fathers that end up in prison, the children didn’t do anything,” Founder and Executive Director of Hope House Carol Fennelly said on Tuesday’s show. “Kids need their parents whether they are in prison or at home.” Keeping in touch with an incarcerated parent helps a child’s self-esteem, strengthening schoolwork. “Spending time with their dads helps them to know that they haven’t been abandoned, that they’re loved,” Fennelly said. “That their dads care about them.”