‘Barrier-free’ Camp for All teaches independence, self-confidence for kids with disabilities

BURTON — Ethan Whalen has attended summer camps at church throughout his childhood, but growing up in a wheelchair due to arthrogryposis — a congenital condition involving multiple joint contractures — he’d often need help maneuvering just to participate in camp activities.

“A lot of it was only ADA compliant,” he said “It wasn’t accessible. I could move around but it wasn’t very easy to do.”

But it’s the exact opposite at Camp For All in Burton, Texas, where Whalen is among several returning campers. The fully accessible inclusive campsite was tailor-made for people of varying disabilities or chronic conditions to cultivate independence, and allows them to enjoy camping, swimming, nature and adaptive sports and recreation just like their non-disabled peers, but without barriers.

“Growing up, I was bullied a lot. So I didn’t really ever feel like I belonged anywhere,” he said. “And I feel like I do here. Not only do I feel like I belong, I feel like I thrive and excel.”

Now in his seventh summer, Whalen was among dozens who attended Moran Camp Xtreme, a wheelchair sports camp hosted by TIRR Foundation at Camp For All this year from July 14 to 19.

‘Leveling the playing field’

At Camp For All, thousands of children and adults with disabilities and challenges from cancer to autism, muscular dystrophy, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, among several other conditions, are able to thrive and conquer any challenge. Campers can participate in activities that would normally present challenges for them, such as horseback riding, archery, rock climbing, ziplining and more.

“Here, I can basically do whatever I want,” said Whalen on July 15 after throwing up shots at a basketball hoop.

It’s all because of Camp For All’s intentionally “barrier-free” campsite, said Pat Sorrells, the president and CEO of Camp For All.

“The beauty of Camp For All, I think, and one of the things that makes us truly unique, is it was truly designed for the people we serve, from start to finish,” Sorrells said.

Spanning 206 acres, Camp For All touts 8-foot-wide sidewalks, including a nature trail designed to accommodate two people in wheelchairs, Sorrells said. Its campgrounds also feature a sloping entrance into the pool with a special lift, several wheelchair ramps, special saddles and lifts to aid in horseback riding, low beds with wide spaces in cabins, and each shower and restroom stall is large enough to accommodate a person in a wheelchair and a possible caretaker, she said.

“Everybody uses a ramp to get on horses. So wheelchair or not, that’s the way you get on a horse,” said Sorrells. “It is leveling the playing field, but at the same time, it’s better on the horses.”

That barrier-free mentality extends far beyond the camp facilities — it’s also evident in camp activities. On July 15, non-disabled coaches with Houston Apollos Wheelchair Lacrosse and camp counselors sat in sports wheelchairs to give campers quick lessons on cradling the stick and catching the ball, and periodically played in the game with them.

“It’s all inclusive,” said Louis Nicolosi, who started the Houston Apollos in 2017. “So it doesn’t matter if you need to use a wheelchair for your mobility or not. Everybody’s welcome, but we use the chairs so it creates a level playing field.”

How it started

That culture of inclusion, independence and barrier-free recreation has been the main goal and mission of Camp For All since it was founded in Houston in 1993. Dr. Paul Gerson of Texas Children’s Hospital founded the camp when he was doing his medical residency at the hospital’s Cancer and Hematology Center, Sorrells said.

“He would walk by there, and he would see kids really unhappy. And at that time kids would not live through cancer,” Sorrells said.

Gerson went to Dr. Donald Fernbach, the late founder of the cancer center, and said: “I want to take these kids somewhere to have fun.”

When Gerson received the greenlight, he took kids to a camp in Austin, Sorrells said, but continuously ran into barriers with camps that couldn’t accommodate wheelchairs or conditions like epilepsy, or ones that lacked adequate medical facilities to provide ongoing care to patients.

He would then join forces with Houston pediatric neurologist, Robert Zeller and Larry Neuhaus, a parent who had recently lost a child to cancer, purchased farmland in Burton, Texas — about an hour and a half from Houston — and built Camp For All facilities in 1998.

Since it opened, Camp For All has hosted nearly 200,000 campers and partners with 65 nonprofits each year, including the Periwinkle Foundation, Arc of Greater Houston, TIRR Foundation, among others primarily statewide, who host a variety of different recreational camps. The organizations curate camp activities, recruit and transport campers to Camp For All typically via bus, and sponsor half of the roughly $1,300 cost for camp.

Operating on a $5.4 million budget for 2024, Camp For All covers the remaining expenses, and provides the facility, food and other resources so that families can participate without worrying about any financial burden. Camp For All reported more than $5.1 million in revenue in 2023 , after having a standout year in 2022, where they reported more than $22 million in revenue .

Today, the campsite touts more than 100,000 square feet of facilities, including 18 cabins, a small chapel, dining hall, medical center with doctors and nurses on site, two lakes for canoeing and fishing, nature trails, and wooded areas for a variety of outdoor activities.

“Our goal was to have them really feel like what it is to be out there in the country,” Sorrells said.

‘Challenge by choice’

On the quiet, spacious campgrounds in the countryside is where friendships are developed, memories are created and lessons are learned.

Bryce Cruz, a former camper turned counselor, gained independence, confidence and a new career path ever since he came to Camp For All at age 14.

He went from being a star football athlete with aspirations to play in the NFL to being confined to a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down. The transition was difficult, especially because there was no root cause for his paralysis, he said.

Cruz suddenly became dependent on nurses and his family for everyday things, like changing clothes or using the bathroom.

“Football was the career path,” he said. “I didn’t have no second option.”

Determined to stay connected to his passion, sports, his mother pushed him to try Camp Xtreme.

Although interested, he wondered how he’d adjust to adaptive sports.

“I didn’t really do anything too much on my own until I had to come here,” said Cruz.

But when he came to Camp Xtreme at Camp For All, he had no choice but to learn to do things on his own.

“I came here and I’ve seen a lot of people who were just like me in the same circumstances, same situations,” Cruz said. “I see them doing it, and it also motivates me to want to be independent, like them.”

At first, the new challenge was a little scary, he said, but eventually he realized it was necessary for his growth.

Daniel Carlton, a Camp Xtreme camp counselor for the last seven years, said countless times he’s witnessed kids like Cruz start camp very timid and nervous. Then, by the end of the week, their confidence grows and they’re ready for whatever is before them.

“The main goal of this camp is independence,” he said. “It gives confidence, it reinforces that they can do a lot of things that people think they can’t. And that’s what it’s all about — confidence. Once they leave here they know they can face any challenge that’s out there.”

“We call it: challenge by choice,” Carlton said.

Although it was a tough adjustment for Cruz at first, the camp pushed him to try various new sports, like wheelchair basketball. His developed talent in wheelchair basketball netted him a full scholarship to play at University of Texas Arlington.

Now at 24, Cruz inspires youth daily as a high school teacher and coach in wheelchair basketball and football.

“It’s definitely a life-altering experience, but it’s also not the end of life, ” he said. “It’s always life at the end of the tunnel so just keep going. Life doesn’t always go as we plan. Sometimes God has a different path for us.”