Camp Hope Roof Repair

The mission of Camp Hope is to compassionately invest in youth through camp experiences both internally run and partnering with families and organizations who share their mission for investing in youth in an outdoor community of love and support. During 2021, Camp Hope partnered with over 31 youth organizations and families to provide a safe, inexpensive outdoor camping experience in addition to its own monthly Discovery Day Camp and Foster Kid camps. The rustic cabins annually house over 2000 students and adults from all over Clark County for overnight camping adventures, many for multiple nights.

Each of their partner organizations create the resiliency factors that address suicide, depression, and anxiety in youth. With large numbers of adult volunteers, these relationships give youth an adult to talk to and have fun with. One 3-day overnight camp brought in a panel of volunteer counselors and youth pastors to discuss mental health. These volunteers testified to spending “lots of one-on-one time” with middle school and high school students during the 3-day camp.

This grant is requested to address necessary maintenance at Camp Hope. Camp Hope has 29 buildings originating from the Girl Scouts who leased and maintained the property as Camp Juliana from 1946-1996. During the initial restoration efforts by Camp Hope in 2012, two buildings were remodeled with metal roofs: the caretaker’s residence and the old infirmary, now the camp office. The remaining roofs were untouched and are now failing. In the past year, 7 roofs have been replaced with new 25-year shingle roofs. Two roofs are currently tarped to prevent further leaking.

Camp Hope of SW WA leases the 107-acre property from Clark County Parks and Land for $1/year and is responsible for all maintenance. Roof replacement is one of the many maintenance responsibilities that falls to Camp Hope. Although the camp has a strong volunteer grounds and facility maintenance force, the risks, dangers, and liabilities inherent to roofing require a licensed and certified roofer.

The camp is organized into 4 pods for rental. Each pod has 6 buildings: a covered shelter, an outdoor latrine, and 4 bunkhouse cabins. Many organizations rent the entire camp and sleep 128 in bunkhouses. Adult chaperones pitch a cot inside or sleep in a tent nearby. Of the 24 buildings in the pods, 6 roofs have been replaced this past year. The large shower house roof was also replaced last December, and the barn roof was replaced in 2020. Sixteen roofs remain in need of replacement.