We imagine that many of you have read the recent allegations about our sister camp, Ramah in the Berkshires. It is certainly not easy to read these allegations about any institution, especially one of our own Ramah camps. Reading about the sexual misconduct of a camper towards another camper at a Ramah Camp is deeply distressing. In addition, reading the allegations about staff leadership who did not respond quickly and appropriately to the victim’s report is deeply troubling. As we begin our summer staff training and prepare to welcome our first chalutzim, we want to share what we do at Ramah in the Rockies to promote the health and safety of our camp community.
Ensuring the mental, emotional, and physical health and safety of campers and staff is our number one priority. Our entire professional team is dedicated to continuously learning and growing in order to deliver the safest camp and the best care. This is a continuous year-round focus. Throughout the year we meet regularly to reevaluate our safety protocols and see where we need to make improvements. Every year, we review what happened the previous summer and set goals on how we want our community to grow and thrive.
We have carefully crafted systems and procedures on how we build our camp communities each year, how we train our staff and run our camps during the summer, and how we respond when things do go wrong. Many of those policies, systems and procedures are published on our website, in our handbooks, and in emails we send to the community. The past few days, we have compiled many of these into a single document to share with our community.
Last month, Ramah in the Rockies, along with the rest of the Ramah Camping Movement, began the process of reviewing and revising our protocols, training, and reporting regarding child protection as part of a new initiative with Sacred Spaces. The Aleinu: Safeguarding Our Children Campaign is aimed at ensuring each camp has the tools to create the safest possible environment for children. We have formed a Child Safety Committee and will continue the first stages of this work throughout the fall and winter. If you are interested in being part of this committee, please contact Mirit Sands, Director of Camp Life.
The past few years have demonstrated that camp is critical for our children. It also has reinforced the importance of the partnership between camp and our camp families. We strive for honest and transparent communication on topics ranging from COVID to camp safety. We hope providing our safety and response procedures will continue to build the camp-family trust we so value. We are grateful for your support and partnership.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Eliav Bock, Camp Director
Scott Michaud, Board President