Send A Kid To Camp!

The Eighth Annual Party for the benefit of Camp Oakhurst is being held on Saturday, July 13, 2013, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the home of Jane and Tim Orr in Rumson, NJ.

Tickests and sponsorships are available as follows:

$200 HELP Send a Kid to Camp

$400 HELP Send a Kid for Three Days

$750 HELP Send a Kid for One Week

$1,500 HELP Send a Kid for Two Weeks

Of course if you cannot attend, donations of any size are appreciated!  You can visit our DONATE page to make a donation online for this event.  For Designation, choose Special Event.  Call us at 212-533-4020 or email us at events@nysh.org for additional details and other payment options.

In order to serve all our summer campers without regard to ability to pay, the support of individuals, foundations and other philanthropic organizations is needed and appreciated.  Camp Oakhurst is owned and operated by New York Service for the Handicapped, which is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization.

You can download/print an application for services for our 2013 camp season in the Apply for Services section of this website.  Or call 732-531-0215 or email info@nysh.org for one to be mailed to you.  Spaces will fill up quickly so please submit an application as soon as you can.

You can see our full schedule of 2012-2013 respites and the summer 2013 camp sessions by visiting our Calendar on this website.

We look forward to serving you, your child or your client this coming summer camp season!

The program consisted of three components: a personal goals program, which worked with individuals in setting a reasonable goal for personal care, which could involve doing something for themselves or being able to instruct a non-family member in the proper way to perform a specific care need; vocational goals for individual campers to work in the camp “sugar shack” store and in delivering mail, and group vocational goals which provided campers with an opportunity to apply and interview for, receive assigned job responsibilities and see the results of their work in planning, preparing for and presenting each end of session banquet. In addition, the group vocational goals included daily group meetings to discuss a theme or topic that applied to employment or job performance. All 40 participants took part in the group vocational goals/activities, 36 in the individual vocational goals/activities and 16 participated in the personal goals activities.

Campers were excited to have the opportunity for the first time in 2012 to work on the banquet planning, preparations and presentation. In past summers, they typically arrived for the dinner and dance and see what staff had planned. This summer, campers helped decide on the theme, decorations, food that would be served, prepared the food, table arrangements and setting and decorations for the Recreation Hall where the dance was held. Every participant was also offered the opportunity to DJ and take photographs during the dance.

The Kessler Foundation’s support has been so important to our ability to offer a pre-vocational program in our summer camp sessions in 2010 and 2012 and now also in 2013.  We are helping our clients with disabilities begin to understand the world of work, to experience working with others, running a store, delivering mail, organizing events, and setting and attaining personal care goals to help them move toward a more independent life.

We continue to post updates and photos on facebook and twitter, with updates also on our website.  We have many repairs to undertake in the coming weeks.  Thank you for your donations and offers of support!  If you are able, please help us restore Camp Oakhurst to its pre-Sandy condition by making an online donation by clicking DONATE NOW.

Camp Oakhurst hopes you and your loved ones are safe and faring okay from the storm.  The camp itself sustained moderate damage, with several trees down around the lawns/buildings with a couple of our buildings hit by trees, and others also with water damage. The storm surge did not, thankfully, reach the camp.   A section of glass windows shattered in our pool and our laundry room ceiling collapsed.  Other trees and large limbs have also broken or damaged sections of the fence around our property.

We had 3 emergency respite clients in residence during the storm and they are still at the camp with our staff in residence and all are well, thanks to the staff’s preparations and hard work.  We were able to secure 2 generators so there was limited but important access to power for heat and lights for most of this past week.  

That being said, we are in better shape than most in our area.   As of the morning of November 6, we have partial power restoration at the camp and our camp phone 732-531-0215 is operational, but internet and email are not yet restored for our NJ staff. With limited staff at the camp due to the storm, we are asking people to be patient when they call the camp with inquiries.

Now that we have power, we are tentatively planning to still hold the 3 night respite starting Friday 11/9 for youth diagnosed with autism and the traditional respite for adults that starts on Monday, 11/12. We will be making final decisions by Thursday 11/8  on holding these respites, once we see if the new storm arriving this week will affect our power restoration and if gas is available for our vehicles. With power and gas, we can keep to our respite schedule since the damage is limited mostly to falling trees and limbs in areas that do not affect the main outdoor spaces or buildings used during the respite season at the camp.

We continue to post updates and photos on facebook and twitter, with updates also on our website.  We have many repairs to undertake in the coming weeks. Thank you for your donations and offers of support! If you are able, please help us restore Camp Oakhurst to its pre-Sandy condition by making an online donation by clicking DONATE NOW.

Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy at Oakhurst - nature shack crushed by a fallen tree

 

Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy at Oakhurst - pool glass shattered

You can download/print an application for services for our 2012-2013 respite season in the Apply for Services section of this website.  Or call 732-531-0215 or email info@nysh.org for one to be mailed to you.  We have rolling registration/confirmations so please submit an application as soon as you can.

You can see a schedule of 2012-2013 respites by visiting our Calendar on this website.

We look forward to serving you, your child or your client this coming respite season!

A New York District Court recently ruled that NYC’s lack of wheelchair accessible taxis violates the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). As the city works to increase its fleet of wheelchair taxis to 2,000 vehicles, the new MobilityWorks Flex-Flat Ramp offers a solution that meets the needs of both parties in the case.

Akron, OH (PRWEB) January 31, 2012

A leading provider of accessible wheelchair vans for consumers and commercial businesses may have the answer that taxi operators, the city of New York, and the disabled community has been looking for. The inexcusable small number of accessible taxis in New York City finally made its way into District Court – with the prospects for wheelchair users being able to find a taxi looking much brighter.

MobilityWorks has developed a new accessible, self-storing wheelchair ramp for the popular Ford Transit Connect van in hopes of winning over taxi operators, including those in charge of New York’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC). The commission controls the number of taxi medallions issued – including those designated for wheelchair accessibility. As of today, less than 2% of the more than 13,000 taxis serving New York City can safely load and transport a wheelchair passenger with a permanently installed, ADA compliant ramp. A recent lawsuit filed against the TLC has put the wheels in motion on making New York more accessible.

While the courts have made a summary judgment against the TLC (Noel v. New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, 11 Civ. 237 (GBD)) stating that its lack of vehicles for accessibility violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it is still up in the air as to what type of vehicles and how many will be added to the fleet within the next year. In response to the ruling, the TLC stated that they were already working on a plan with legislators and with the Governor’s office to increase the taxi medallions being issued, specifically for wheelchair passengers. Whatever their prior intentions were, the lawsuit appears to have sped up their plans. According to recent articles, the goal is to increase the entire NYC fleet of wheelchair taxis to 2,000 vehicles. They have also stated that they are going to establish a “Wheelchair Accessible Dispatch Program” whereby passengers can call a special 311 number to request an accessible taxi pickup…

Read more here

MANY people know of Berkeley, Calif., as the birthplace, in the 1960’s, of the Free Speech Movement. Fewer people know that Berkeley also played a major role in the disability rights movement. It was here, also in the ’60s, that Ed Roberts — a student with quadriplegia — became an outspoken advocate of the cause.

I became aware of this after being invited to give a lecture for the Disabled Students’ Program at the University of California. I was delighted and, of course, flattered, but I was also nervous.

Sure, I’d given workshops and lectures hundreds of times, but this would be my first time speaking to an audience made up entirely of people with disabilities. To be perfectly honest, I’d always felt uncomfortable around disabled people. Suppose I said the wrong thing? Came off as insensitive?

I needed guidance, so I turned to Paul Hippolitus, the director of the program. Reluctantly, I acknowledged my discomfort. Paul had spent 30 years at the Office of Disability Employment Policy of the federal Labor Department before coming to the university, and he had heard it all before.

“Perfectly normal,” he told me. “In this culture, nearly everyone is uncomfortable with disability.”

Apparently that goes for those with disabilities, too. Enduring the stares and the obvious uneasiness of others, people with disabilities often feel painfully self-conscious. Not surprisingly, they can lack self-confidence…

Read the full article here