July 17 – 21, 2011
Camp CADI (Irish for “simple happiness”) is a unique summer camp open to girls, from 8 to 21 years old, who are childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivors. Camp CADI is held at Camp Twin Lakes in the Atlanta, Georgia area. During the summer of 2011, camp will be held from July 17 through July 21. Applications for new and returning campers are currently being accepted. The deadline for both in-state and out-of-state applications is May 16, 2011, but since there is always a waiting list, we urge you to apply as soon as possible. As part of our application criteria, we require girls to have already started therapy before coming to camp.
For more information, please download an application or contact us using the information on our CONTACT US page. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Camp Applications
Camp Activities
Camp CADI includes traditional camp activities such as swimming, canoeing, mountain biking, fishing, campfires, and sleeping under the stars. We also include a creative mix of art therapy and experiential learning programs to complete our retreat. Campers develop confidence-boosting skills during interactive experiential learning workshops, while rediscovering their own voice through music, drama, storytelling, journaling and other arts related activities.
Throughout the week, the girls discover that they are not alone, realize the abuse was not their fault, and learn that community fellowship can be a great healer as they build trusting relationships with their camp peers and counselors.
Camp CADI has really helped me deal with my sexual abuse by helping me rebuild my confidence and find my own inner strength. Being able to form friendships with other survivors of sexual abuse has shown me that I am not alone in my struggles and that each one of us is beautiful and we should not be ashamed of our abuse. Camp CADI really helped me get my life ontrack and gave me back the most valuable thing for a survivor: hope.
Camp has truly changed my life forever and I hope that it will continue to change other young survivors lives as well.
Camp CADI Values
- We celebrate the girls and young women who attend Camp CADI.
- We expect them to be their personal best.
- We value them as unique individuals with different strengths and weaknesses.
- We recognize that they are each at different stages of their healing process.
- We assure them it was NOT their fault.
- We assure them that childhood sexual abuse does not define who they are and we refer to them as girls who have been sexually abused, rather than sexually abused girls.
- We provide a safe place for them to tell their stories and explore their feelings.
- We provide a connection with other young survivors/thrivers.
- We lift the shame and the guilt.
- We allow them to be children.
- We help them identify destructive coping mechanisms and teach them healthy coping mechanisms.
- We model appropriate affection.
- We model healthy habits.
- We provide consistency and stability.
- We teach them that they always have the right to say "No" if something makes them feel uncomfortable.
- We provide community.
- We give them choices.
- We respect their choices.
- We listen and we are supportive.
- We are committed to providing the most innovative, creative, and experiential therapies available to assist them in their healing.
New Camper
