Dear person reading this and considering working for Camp Spearhead I urge you to read this review and consider everything I say. Going into my first summer out of state and working at a special needs camp I was nervous but extremely excited. I've had years of experience with people with IDD so I was super excited but nervous about being away from home and hoping the people would like me. I was interviewed by Josh wall who currently works there and I got nothing but great vibes from them and continued support and communication leading up to camp. However when I got to camp I could not have been more let down by not only my experience but others who have autism as well. I was shocked that being a special needs camp how rude and disrespectful the counselors were toward me and other who were just a little different. I also found that even those with the biggest hearts for those with disabilities couldn't do it because the people took the fun and love out of the job.i left that job with such low self esteem and afraid to be myself because I was there to help people but being kind got me walked all over. I urge you to continue reading and look through my list of pros and cons.
Pros:
They provide housing even on weekends for those of us out of state.
The campers are amazing and it is so fun watching them develop friendships throughout the camp season
The parents are very appreciative and will get you gifts sometimes. I still talk and communicate with some parents and campers even after I quit.
The overall camp environment has the possibility to be fun when staffed with the right type of people
Cons:
The work environment is very toxic, especially for those of us with disabilities.
Counselors are some of the most rude and misunderstanding people I've ever met
They pity campers and treat them like babies
Admin picked which issues they wanted to address and unfortunately bullying isn't their top priority
Admin had their favorites and double standards for issues and unfortunately if you're not one of them they won't give you and your issues the time of day.
I can be working hard and something I do differently than my co counselors will trigger them to belittle me and go running to admin. Admin will believe them no questions asked and then have a meeting with me. However the moment I have a issue with my counselors and go to admin I was not taken seriously, asked a bunch of questions and basically made me feel as if I was the bigger issue.
Staff do not stay for long because of how toxic the environment is. This year we had about 8 counselors leave
They claim to have Campers safety at the core but yet counselors can drop them or leave campers in diapers or have chewing Tobacco and vapes in the cabin and they don't do anything because they are one to the liked staff
I went to admin several times about my cabin bullying me but they didn't want to hear it until I had a panic attack because their favorites were the issues.
If you have autism and want to be a camp counselor don't go here. People will be the most inpatient people ever and not willing to meet you halfway.
People here are either super kind or the most rude people I've ever met. Everyone but the admin seemed to see how poorly I was treated. People even talked to admin on my behalf about how I was being treated and they ignored it and didn't care. It took me having a mental breakdown for admin to open their eyes and give some sort of support.
We were overworked and underpaid. This is a camp where you deal with things nurses do! Yet we were paid $12 hr and they refused to pay us for nights even though we were always on duty. We can go to fast food restaurants and get paid at least $15 hr and we don't deal with vomit, behaviors, poop, wheelchairs ect.
People at the camp were short with me, yelled at me, belittled me and my self worth, threatened me and made rumors up about me but still admin did not care to do anything about it. I even sent admin a email about me leaving and why I choose to and they did not reply, not even acknowledgement. read more