The Munroe-Meyer Institute prepares for Camp Munroe as they prepare the grand opening of their new facility.
Their new facility sits at the old First Data building near 67th and Pine Streets. The new amenities include a new playground, a larger therapy swimming pool, an indoor gym facility and more. Their grand opening takes place on June 8.
The Munroe-Meyer Institute offers services for the special needs community. Some of the services they provide include daily activities, therapy sessions, and social interactions.
“So many of the kids we serve just don’t have the opportunities to access services in the community, and we are very accessible,” said Nicole Giron, director of the Recreational Therapy Department at Munroe-Meyer Institute. “We have a wonderful staff that work for us and volunteers who can really support the children and adolescents that come out to camp and really support them with their needs, and really just ensure that they’re having a wonderful time learning new skills and meeting friends.”
The COVID-19 pandemic halted activities and services at Munroe-Meyer Institute. Their participants were left without their service and care providers for a few months. Starting last summer, the recreational department gradually operated their services to their patrons while exercising safety guidelines.
“The first thing we did is really assess how we could provide this very valuable service,” Giron said. “We knew that families had been in isolation, and schools closed in mid-March. So by the time June came around, we knew that kids have been home for almost four months. They didn’t have any outside care, and we know how valuable our services are to people.”
Munroe-Meyer will operate under 75% capacity this summer after running half capacity the previous summer. Participants and staff will exercise social distancing and other safety guidelines inside the facility.
Munroe-Meyer Institute incorporated a program in 1982 known as Camp Munroe, which offers a summer camp experience for children from the ages of 3 to 21 with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
While a sense of normalcy returning, there a sense that Munroe-Meyer will be able to operate regular activities, events, and field trips in the future as it offers participants something they don’t usually get outside of this experience.
“This job is more than a job and really seeing people flourish seeing people grow in their skill sets, whether it’s increasing their functional communication or their physical skills,” Giron said. “There’s just this really incredible community that is all about helping everyone reach their dreams, and it’s just the best place in the world to be.”
Former Camp Munroe employee Anthony DeSciscio started volunteering when he was twelve and worked as an employee until landing a job as a police officer. DeSciscio said that spending quality time with the participants and offering them an enjoyable summer camp experience made his time there as an employee memorable.
“The opportunity to grow in life, you have different relationships, you meet different people, you get different life experiences working or volunteering there, and or even attending there,” DeSciscio said. “It just helps people grow emotionally and socially in so many ways and improves people’s lives.”
What made this experience special for Anthony was that the Camp Munroe program offered a summer camp where his brother David, who has down syndrome, can participate and have fun with other campers.
“It’s given David a place to belong,” DeSciscio said. “He enjoys going there, you know, [and] it’s even in friendships. It’s a community outlet you know where they also go out in the community and do stuff, too. I mean, you can’t measure what that gives back to the participants, the families or even the staff there.”
Camp Munroe operates Mondays to Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for six weeks starting around mid-June. David currently participates in Munroe-Meyer’s adult program. He always shows a high level of excitement going to camp with his friends as he has in the past.
