Successful kids ‘healing’ camp seeking community sponsors
Self-empowerment and communication are part of the curriculum at Arlee Rehabilitation Center's Pawitively Healing Camp. With partners from The Warrior Project, this horse is one of the kind and gentle teachers. (Courtesy photo)
Learning to communicate with animals is part of learning to build trusting relationships with people, too, at Pawsitively Healing Camp. (Courtesy photo)
Arlee Rehabilitation Center, ARC, is building on last year’s success with a second summer of Pawsitively Healing youth camps. The programs bring together kids who have suffered through trauma in their lives with the healing companionship of animals.
During this summer’s first session in June, 21 youth spent the week developing trust and learning to communicate with dogs, horses, and other critters.
“Animals really help people deal with trauma in at least two ways,” said ARC director Filip Panusz. “For one, they are models. They teach us how to manage our stress, how to have a relationship that doesn’t grow into conflict, how to communicate effectively, and how to sense in a sensitive way what another person is feeling. They have that incredible intuition. We delve into this deeply, learning, ‘How do dogs do this?’”
“Second, they provide the healing. They sense when we are struggling with something. Just spending time with those animals, the kids just somehow let go. There’s that level of trust between the child and the animal that is much harder to establish with a therapist, and adult, a family member, even a friend.”
“That’s where the healing can happen,” Panusz said. “The child feels comfortable just letting go and just being present with that animal and hugging it and knowing the animal is not going to judge. The animal is going to know and feel what that child is feeling without the child having to express it or explain it to them in words. A dog can just be present in a non-judging way to help calm and help heal that anxiety or fear or anger or whatever the child feels.”
“Resiliency is the overarching goal,” Panusz said, “to help these kids be successful, empowered survivors. We are helping kids who have suffered trauma, helping them heal, and helping them learn how to cope with challenges in the future.”
The first camp was met with strong enthusiasm and reviews from the campers and their families, Panusz said. “I knew we were providing something special and powerful, but I didn’t quite expect it to be as directly effective as it was.” Roughly two-thirds of last year’s participants wanted to return this year.
Pawsitively Healing Camps are for all youth ages 8 to 14 living within the Flathead Reservation boundaries. A second camp will welcome up to 25 more kids July 11-15, 9 a.m to 4 p.m., and there are still openings. Activities will include a special guest presentation each day, animal-inspired Indigenous art, cuddle time with canines, presentations on the traditional role of animals in Tribal culture, and more.
Camp tuition is charged on a sliding scale, with the non-profit ARC counting on donors to help fill in the gaps. They are currently seeking donors to sponsor tuition for the July camp because the families who need the camp often lack resources. For more information or to help sponsor a camper, find Arlee Rehabilitation Center on Facebook or contact director@arc.org, 406-207-9338.
