Frontenac County summer camp nurturing mental wellness

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Deep in the woods in Central Frontenac, staff at a beloved summer camp are nurturing better mental health for the young people who not only attend summer camp, but who also work there.

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The RKY Camp, located on Eagle Lake just outside of Parham, was founded jointly by the Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club and YMCA of Kingston after 25 acres was purchased on the lake on July 3, 1930.

At an event last Tuesday, staff, local dignitaries and partners gathered on the shores of Eagle Lake to mark $46,600 in recent Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) grants that have helped the camp train its staff and upgrade some infrastructure.

A $22,800 grant in 2024 allowed the camp to enhance its rock-climbing wall, and a grant of $23,600 from the OTF’s Resilient Communities Fund in 2023 funded special training for camp staff in “mental health first aid,” an evidence-based approach that helps staff address signs of mental health distress among the children they’re caring for.

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At the dual grant recognition event at the camp on July 8, executive director D’Arcy Munn expressed gratefulness for not only the capital improvement funding, but for the money that has helped to elevate his staff’s ability to help young people through their personal difficulties.

“We identified, certainly coming out of COVID, that we need to have more empathy among our staff team, more education on mental health, working with the campers in an overnight setting.”

The OTF grant helped to train every staff member who came through the camp for two years.

“Seventy mental health first aid certifications went into the world through our leadership program, and that was intentional — to build it as part of the curriculum when they were younger,” Munn said. “Now, I would say most of our counsellors from those years are here now with mental health first aid certifications.”

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The camp also received funding to run a workshop for 25 of the senior staff in spring 2024 to learn more about a trauma-informed approach to working with children.

“All of that builds on the layers of us being able to better address our campers, and the staff population,” Munn said.

Debra Lefebvre from Limestone City Mental Health helped to administer the mental health first aid courses to the 70 young staff in training at RKY Camp.

Lefebvre is a trauma-informed registered nurse, psychotherapist and educator whose work has helped to establish mental health initiatives across Canada. She and her team train people in the workplace and community in using evidence-based mental health skills and tools in dealing with each other and young people.

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“Mental health challenges emerge largely during adolescence and young adulthood, and we know that we have a crisis in mental health care for youth, particularly transitioning youth,” Lefebvre told the Whig-Standard during a tour of the camp.

“Having this training, which is evidence-based and that’s endorsed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, the (counsellors in training) are prepared with some knowledge and skills to support kinds in this environment,” she said. “We know that early intervention is critical.”

Lefebvre said that the statistics are “overwhelming,” demonstrating how kids struggle to receive care that they need.

“Our phones are constantly ringing from parents reaching out in desperation to access the support they need for their children,” she said. “So D’Arcy’s leadership and insight recognized how important mental health training is for the counsellors themselves, and so we’ve come in numbers times to train them on how to support, how to guide.”

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Lefebvre spoke of the trust that parents place in RKY to keep their children safe.

“They create this safe space and provide that connection because many kids, particularly those who may be struggling with their mental wellness, feel isolated, and so through acceptance, inclusivity, early recognition and support these kids can thrive.”

The mental health training isn’t only for the benefit of campers. Those benefits extend to the staff themselves.

“That’s one of the pillars that we’ve recognized,” she said. “Not only are we training individuals to support others, but also to support themselves.”

After sessions she’s taught, Lefebvre has been approached from audience members saying they’d like to know how to use the course to support themselves. Lefebvre sees any mental health training as a two-pronged benefit in that way.

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“We have a crisis in youth mental health care, of them being able to access the care of parents who see their kids struggling, and so to have this additional training, supported by OTF, is phenomenal.”

RKY’s camp director, Davin Allan, sees the impact of the training on both staff and campers.

“After COVID, (there are) big challenges with resiliency and emotional regulation in our campers,” Allan told the Whig. “In those early years after COVID, we were seeing a lot of those young counsellors who wanted to work here so bad, and they grew up here, and theyre just struggling because they feel like they didn’t have the tools to be there for campers.”

The mental health training has resulted in counsellors being able to spend the time a camper might need them to listen and see their struggles, not necessarily offering to “fix problems,” but providing support.

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“I think this year in particular is the first year where now our first year and second year counsellors all have their mental health first aid,” Allan said.

Lance Thompson has worked several summers at RKY Camp in various roles, including as a camp counsellor and now as non-counselling staff.

Thompson underwent the mental health first aid training and says it changed how he approaches communication with campers.

“There’s a lot of campers here at RKY that come from disadvantaged backgrounds or tougher or broken family homes, and this training really helps you understand different perspectives,” Thompson said. “You can really help a kid, because this could be the only two weeks they’re in a safe spot in their year, which is extremely important.”

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Thompson has sat with and held space for campers who’ve shared the struggles they’re experiencing, whether that be problems at home or overwhelming feelings. One camper told Thompson that they were having thoughts of hurting themselves physically, and he said the mental health first aid training helped him navigate that situation.

“(It taught us) how to talk to a camper and interact with a camper that’s saying stuff like that at that young age and how to be their friend, and to make sure, more importantly, that they might have people at home that know about it.

“Kids confide in counsellors a lot, and being able to contact the right people to make sure that they’re not only safe here at camp but also safe once they leave is very important. Providing that safety net for them could save a life.”

John Jordan, MPP for the riding of Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston, was at the camp to celebrate the funding recognition event.

“I want to congratulate the staff and management of RKY Camp for their continued dedication to creating a great camping experience for kids from all around the region,” Jordan said. “The provincial funding you’ve received will strengthen your skills and update your rock-climbing wall to deliver an exciting and impactful challenge. This funding is hard-earned and well deserved and, again, my sincere congratulations to the team at RKY Camp.”

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