Camp Able Awash in Fun and Love Again

The positive energy, the enthusiasm and ultimately, the love emblematic of Camp Able was overflowing on the final day of the annual summer program for youths and adults with developmental disabilities and behavioral challenges. 

Immediately after lunch came a talent show that saw participants in this year’s camp take the stage to dance and sing and entertain a large and exuberate audience of friends and family, camp counselors and other volunteers at Wesley United Methodist Church. 

Music filled the air, as did cheers and applause as the campers displayed their talents, inspired by the talent show’s theme, “Camp Able Goes to Hollywood,” and the camp’s 2022 title “Lights, Camera, Camp Able.”

Held recently, Camp Able is a five-day-long extravaganza of fun activities participants, the vast majority of them hailing from Collier County. Now in its 17th year, Camp Abel provides those with special needs with a host of daytime activities, from movies, golfing and salon trips to arts and crafts, scuba diving and other water-related activities. Evenings are occupied by activities like dances, a luau and a carnival.

Luz Perez of Marco has been a camp counselor for the nonprofit program for the last six years. She believes the overnight program’s five-days of merriment “means everything” to those who take part. 

“It’s Christmas and a birthday, all of those special days, all wrapped into one,” she added. “I think it means that they get to take one week out of the year and freely express themselves. There’s no judgment. It’s all love here. I think it means a lot to the families, as well. It gives them a little bit of a break, a vacation if there’s a need and they get to send their kids to a place that’s really safe and loving.” 

She first learned of Camp Able when she was a high school sophomore from friends who’d taken part previously. 

“I saw some pictures on Instagram and I was like, ‘this seems really, really cool. I should give it a shot,’” said Perez. “After that first year, I always take this week off. It’s my favorite week of the year. I come back every year because it’s like a family reunion every single year. Everyone knows each other. We all keep in touch throughout the year. I keep coming back to be around this energy and to celebrate all the love.”

“She (Perez) was one of roughly 80 counselors and volunteers serving the 38 participants this year,” said Casey Johnson of Tampa, who is camp director for Camp Abel, Inc. The nonprofit holds three other camps each year: one in Mississippi, one in Memphis and one in New Orleans. 

Camp Abel was started by Father Kyle Bennett, the former pastor at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, on Marco. His daughter, Callie Bennett, is the president of Camp Abel, Inc.

Johnson first got involved with Camp Abel 12 years ago, at the invitation of a close friend who is Bennett’s cousin. His goal that first year was to accumulate some community service hours to fulfill Florida’s high school graduation requirements and to have a fun summer experience. What he experienced turned out to be much more substantial.

“Being able to hang out with the campers over 12 years has changed my perspective on a lot of things,” he said. “The camp has turned into a thing where I can be more grounded in the world and it helps keep me from taking things too seriously, in a good way.” 

Campers of all ages are accepted, said Johnson, who noted that the oldest, this year, was 39, while the youngest 11. Most find out about the camp through word of mouth, but some are recruited through counselors and still others learn of the program through its Instagram and Facebook pages.

“One of the major tenets of Camp Able is lifting the campers up through dignity driven love, which means treating the campers always with dignity,” he added. “When we talk to them, we talk to them as our peers because they are. We’re developing true friendships. It’s not counselor watching over camper. It’s counselor hanging out with camper, camper hanging out with counselor. So it’s always a back-and-forth relationship.”

Counselors must be a minimum of 14 years of age, many of them attending local high schools. Two of them are paired with each camper. They’re joined by a support team of volunteers from local churches and civic organizations, nurses, and a production team that helps with nightly skits, organizing the talent show, social media duties and more.

Michelle Bledsoe of Isles of Capri became a counselor in 2018, as a Lely High School sophomore, after being invited by a classmate and friend Callie Bennett. 

“She invited all of her friends to do the camp and I went and it completely changed my life the first year,” she said. “I’m now a speech therapist and I’d never worked with anyone with a disability before, so it was a pivotal moment in my life.” 

What brought about that change and what’s kept her coming back? 

“I’d never been in an environment where there is zero judgment before,” explained Bledsoe.

“It is consistent love everywhere that you walk on campus. There are no walls up. Leaving after this week and going back to the real world is going to be tough. It’s the feeling that you have while you’re here and the community that’s built.” 

The 2023 Camp Able is set for July 9th through the 15th. For more information about Camp Able, visit campable.org/ or email marco@campable.org.

More Camp Able photos can be found online at www.coastalbreezenews.com.