When the school year ends, the miracles of SCHI do not. In fact, they are multiplied and magnified at SCHI’s camp, the most amazing summer program in the world, where every child is given a chance to shine and flourish. 

At the crux of what every parent, staff member and observer raves about SCHI’s summer program, it’s this:  These special children, with special needs, are given a special experience that enriches them while providing their heroic parents with some respite. 

Raising a special needs child is a full-time job. The parents of SCHI children demonstrate fortitude, courage and stamina that defy description. But even these angels need a break to rejuvenate, catch their breath, and refill their physical and emotional tanks for the year ahead. 

These parents, throughout the year, don’t get a breather. Day after day, around the clock, they shower their special children with all the love and care they can muster. They handle their precious neshamos with patience and compassion, celebrating every tiny milestone, every step forward.

During the day, these parents forge on.

At night, their pillows are often soaked with tears. They try their best, they give it their all, but the summer is coming and they are silently wishing and hoping – praying! – for the miracle of Camp SCHI.

Camp SCHI assures the parents that they will be able to carry on. They can take a step back, for a few weeks at least, and let the remarkable counselors and staff members work their magic. 

It’s a formula comprised of genuine love.

A recipe of miracles that comes together during the summer months.

The miracle of Camp SCHI.

At every second of every day during those glorious weeks, each special needs child becomes the focus of doting staff.

Camp SCHI provides hope where some might give up.

Camp SCHI provides respite and relief where they are desperately needed.
And Camp SCHI ensures that the gains of the school year are not lost. In fact, those gains are built on and enhanced thanks to the attention to detail of Camp SCHI’s stellar team. 

Additionally, for those children that are not able to attend SCHI’s sleepaway camp, the Lakewood campus is still operating in full swing! The administration and staff are there for everyone, making it possible for the children to continue their education and receive hours of invaluable therapies throughout the summer months. This summer there will be an additional 2 hours of after school program added to the children’s schedule, at SCHI’s own expense, giving the parents the much needed respite of having the children occupied for most of the day.

“Originally, despite early intervention therapy, our son, Moshe*, wasn’t able to do anything, even make eye contact,” Rabbi G. recalls. “The first year at SCHI, he just cried, but the staff didn’t give up.”

Today, with siyata diShmaya, Moshe is a completely different child. He walks, communicates and is significantly higher functioning across the board than anyone ever dreamt of, and he is constantly progressing even more. Rabbi G. believes – nay, he knows – that the key ingredients –aside from professionalism, innovation, patience and persistence – are the warmth and positivity that permeate SCHI, and a major component of Moshe’s advancement has been his participation in the summer program.

“There used to be a belief out there that special needs children don’t require the same love, encouragement and excitement as other children do,” Rabbi G. says. “Some didn’t recognize that like other children, and perhaps even more, the summer is a crucial time for these children. They need to be alive, to express themselves, and be enveloped by the feelings of a thriving program. Camp SCHI provides that warmth and encouragement to the campers, while leaving the parents with a feeling that ‘we’re here for you no matter what.’” 

Morning to Night

Speak to parent after parent and you’ll hear the same sentiment. There is nothing that stands in the way of the staff at Camp SCHI helping each child reach another milestone, even if the milestone would generally be considered unrealistic. No effort is spared. 

Camp SCHI has, each summer, exceeded anyone’s wildest expectations. Not only has it become a necessity for the families, but the campers themselves have come to love this magical place as their home away from home during the warmer months.

Watching the SCHI campers and counselors reconnect, from the moment the smiling campers come off the bus into the waiting open arms of their counselors, the warmth and happiness are reflected in the children’s faces and are almost palpable. 

From morning until night, the counselors are always there for their campers, nurturing and caring for their needs. With tremendous effort, determination and love, these counselors are able to provide a fun and productive environment in which the campers can thrive. 

And this year, more than ever, the Coronavirus has made it unbelievably challenging for all families of special needs children. Most of us can relate to the difficulties of having our children home from school for the past 3 months, however try to imagine the burden of caring for these special Neshamos from morning until night, with no relief! If there was ever a summer that Camp SCHI was a necessity, this is it!

But they can only do it if we enable them to.

It is now up to us. 

All year-round, the SCHI school performs miracles for its children.

This summer, those miracles can continue if, and only if, we enable them to.

SCHI’s camp and local after-school respite program can only open if sufficient funds are raised to cover the costs of this phenomenal program. A massive fundraising effort is being launched June 29-30 to garner the support of all of you, to the tune of $1.2 million, ensuring that every SCHI child will experience the summer the way it was meant to be, enveloped in the warm and embracing confines of Camp SCHI.

Camp SCHI can’t do it alone. 

The children need you.

The parents need you.

A summer of magic and miracles is dependent on you.

Don’t let them down.

Become a special donor. Visit rayze.it/specialsummer. 

SCHI, The School for Children with Hidden Intelligence, is a world-renowned, cutting-edge therapeutic and educational school meeting the unique needs of hundreds of severely-developmentally delayed, medically fragile, and socially-emotionally challenged children and young adults ranging in age from birth to 21+. The staff members of SCHI are so warm and caring that parents know that they are sending their children to a place that will help them become the best they can be. SCHI provides educational and therapeutic services by certified professional staff to children with disabilities as varied as autism, Down syndrome, ADHD, muscular dystrophy, Spina bifida, and cerebral palsy, among others. 

SCHI is truly a family, bringing not only education and guidance to the students but support for the parents and joy and fulfillment into the lives of the staff.