Jacksonville, Fla. – The popular summer residential camps for youth with disabilities are back and this year the Ministry of Disabilities of the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine is celebrating “Camp in Paradise.”

Camp in Paradise includes seven individual sessions of a six-day recreational and residential camp for children, teenagers and young adults with disabilities. It provides an opportunity for campers to spend a week away from home enjoying camp with their peers. It also provides the camper’s family a much needed respite from the daily care of a child with special needs.

On Wednesday, June 20, from 6-8 p.m. the first session of Camp in Paradise will celebrate a luau at Camp St. John located on the property of Marywood Retreat and Conference Center, 235 Marywood Drive in St. Johns. The luau will be provided for each camp session.

The luau will include a fancy sit down dinner followed by a Polynesian dance and show, “The Pearls of the Pacific.” Campers will also learn the art of Polynesian dance.

The seven weeks of camp include the following:

• (2) Weeks of Camp I Am Special for children, ages 5-18 – June 18-23
• (4) Weeks of Camp Promise for teenagers and young adults, ages 18 & older – June 4-9, June 11-16, July 23-28 and July 30-Aug. 4.
• (1) Week of Camp Care for persons with Autism and related disorders, ages 5 and older – Aug. 6-10.

Camp I Am Special, Camp Promise and Camp Care are unique because they offer a care ratio of one-to-one, in order to provide the utmost attention and benefit for each camper.

“Our camp staff is comprised of well-trained high school and college students called “buddies,” in addition to a full-time nurse, kitchen coordinator and camp directors who oversee the entire week,” said Rebecca Aleman, director of the Ministry of Persons with Disabilities.

“All individuals in supervisory roles have extensive experience working with persons with varying exceptionalities. We serve persons with more than 76 different disabilities such as Developmentally Delayed, Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, blindness, deafness, ADHD, Autism, Fragile X Syndrome, Cornelia de Lange Syndrome and many others,” she said.

For more information about the camps and to arrange coverage and interviews, please contact Rebecca Aleman at (904) 416-8921/cell or email executivedirector@dosacamps.com. For more information about DOSA Camps, visit www.dosacamps.com.