Collaboration With Outside Organizations Member camps and conference centers collaborate with other ministries, organizations, businesses and schools in countless ways. Some of these examples might inspire you to try something new.
Grace Adventures
Grace Adventures currently has several collaborative partnerships with missionally aligned organizations. Beyond just working on a project or camp experience together, the two groups become interdependent, with interrelated leadership, budgets and program models. Two examples of that are:
• Pittsburgh Youth Foundation (PYF), one of the largest youth networks in the country, brings 600 to 800 students from Cleveland and Pittsburgh to camp, along with PYF staff and church leaders. PYF spends three weeks on campus for three weeklong Surf City camp experiences. Prudhomme describes it as a collaborative relationship where PYF has 51% control over the experience.
• Cornerstone University joined Grace Adventures to develop and offer a four-year leadership program. Grace developed the curriculum and provided training centers, and the university did the training for the students. The two organi- zations shared budgets, program and staffing models and more for a decade.
Tejas Camp and Retreat
• Feed the Need Ministries meets the needs of fami- lies in the community who need assistance with food or other support. “Tese are typically families who don’t get opportunities to experience camp,” Biles explained. For more than 10 years now, several times a year, Tejas hosts a family fun day where families can come to the camp and experi- ence all Tejas has to offer, while Feed the Need Ministries sets up a grilling area with their trailers and provides burgers and prayer for people.
The Salvation Army Redwood Glen
• By partnering with the Santa Clara jail system near Salvation Army Redwood Glen Camp and Conference Center, Covert discovered emerging collaborative opportunities with moms who are incarcerated, which has dovetailed into the camp’s partnership with Angel Tree. While many people may be familiar with the Christmas giſt program Angel Tree runs, it’s the Angel Tree Camping program that has blossomed at Redwood Glen. “Angel Tree has opened a much broader view for us working with families who have an incar- cerated parent,” Covert shared.
• Covert’s team also works with some of the large agricultural firms in the area to serve migrant farm families. He explained that the firms “recognize that the better they can care for the children of their workers, the happier the workers are.” The firm provides transportation to camp and encourages people to embrace the opportunity for their kids to attend.
Calvin Crest
• Te local Rotary chapter has been partnering with Calvin Crest for several years. “Rotary helped build two accessible cabins for us, and they send their Youth Leadership Academy students to our camp every summer,” Staman explained.
• Te summer aſter COVID, Calvin Crest connected with a therapist who is also a guidance counselor in the local school district, who introduced the camp to other school counselors who are also therapists. Since they have summers off and wanted to give support to the camp, the counselors joyfully signed on to help. Every week during the summers since then, the camp has one or two counselors volun- teering to meet the mental health needs of campers and staff. “Tis has been one of the greatest collab- orations the camp has ever had,” Staman said.
Collaboration does take effort and intentionality, but in a healthy work environment, it seems to take place more naturally. “Te beauty of collaboration is found in the spirit of Christian community,” Covert said. “When the community is healthy and strong, it just happens.” Whether across your teams, your town or your
part of the country, there are always opportunities to collaborate and build something new. So, the next time you find another group with a shared vision, don’t just cooperate — collaborate. Say “Yes, and” and see what you can build together.
Jen Howver serves as the editor of CCCA’s flagship publication, InSite magazine. She is also CCCA’s training manager, planning the EIT webinars, RoundTables and seminars offered at the national conference. Jen was a camper and worked on staff at Camp Paradise (Newberry, Michigan), where she met and later married her husband, Jay. Tey live in Colorado with their daughters, Noelle and Chloe, and way too many pets.
November/December 2025
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