Metro Detroit children with serious illnesses have new option for camp

North Star Reach construction on track for camp to open summer 2016

Javion Smith is already looking forward to summer camp despite it being months away.

Smith had a chance to tour North Star Reach camp in Pinckney to see the construction project taking shape. 

North Star Reach is a nonprofit that offers camp experiences for children with serious health challenges. It is a member of the SeriousFun Children's Network which was founded by Paul Newman.

The camp is free for children and their families. 

Prior to North Star Reach, campers like Smith had to travel several hours for the camp experience.

"I'm really excited for it because it's a lot closer to home and I don't have to worry about missing my family that much because it's only 20 minutes away from them," Smith said.

Smith has a condition called Hemogoblin Ypsilanti.  His condition means his blood is thicker and it makes it harder for him to run as fast and as long as other children.

North Star Reach Camp will open in 2016 as the ninth SeriousFun camp in the United States among 30 camp programs worldwide. Children who face health challenges in the Michigan region will be able to attend camp closer to home.

The camp in Pinckney spans 105 acres and will include cabins, arts and crafts center, nature trails, athletic court, sports field and an accessible tree house with a zap line among other amenities.  It will also have a medical center on site should the children need it.

"We hope the children never have to visit the health center while they're here, but we recognize that some will need some support," Doug Armstrong, the founder and CEO of North Star Reach said.  "To have both the facilities, the equipment, the medication and a place for the staff to really take care of kids allows us to really encourage all children to get out to camp and really push that boundary of kids who really don't have any other opportunity to go to camp.

"These kids are forced to grow up very quickly when they become seriously ill. They spend a lot of time with adults, they spend a lot of time focusing on medications, their next appointment, in hospitals and they get cheated out of being a child and having fun and playing, and so coming to camp gives them some of that childhood back," Armstrong said.

According to North Star Reach's website, there are more than 75,000 children in the great lakes region with a serious or life threatening illness eligible to attend summer camp, but less than 10 percent of them have the opportunity to go.   Armstrong hopes North Star Reach will change that.

"I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when I was 7 and I went through chemo for about two years. And It wasn't fun," Jessica Lynn McLachlin said.

McLachlin is looking forward to attending the camp in Pinckney too.

North Star Reach plans to have construction complete in time for the 2016 summer camping season.  It will offer camps for children with organ transplants, those with cardiac diagnosis and another for those with sickle cell enmemia.   It will also host family camps.

"Family camps are a great way for first time campers and they're families to kind of experience camp and knowing that it's really difficult for families to let those kids go," Patrick Smith the camp director said.

McLachlin and Smith enjoyed touring the camp grounds and envisioning their future camp experiences.

"I like it. It looks like it's really big. The lake is really beautiful. It's really pretty here," McLachlin said.  "At these camps you're like, 'Oh, I survived cancer too.' That's really fun to have in common with people. It's really interesting knowing what they've been through and then knowing what you've been through."

"You don't have to be worried about not making friends here because everyone has an illness, and if they don't, they'll learn that a lot of other people here have an illness. That they should start respecting each other because some people have really bad illnesses that they can't really do a lot of things," Jaivon Smith said.

Camp organizers work to make sure these children get the full camp experience and give them the opportunity to forget about their illness or condition.

"It's a place where kids can really just be kids," Patrick Smith, the camp director said. "The reason we run camp is because these are children that typically wouldn't have access to great outcomes that camp can do. We focus on things like independence, autonomy, self esteem, self reliance, coping skills, trying new things, making friends.

"I feel really excited about it," Javion Smith.

The camp is for children 7 to 15 years old and their families.  

For more information go to northstarreach.org