Easterseals Central Illinois says it’s desperately looking for people to hire as camp counselors for its Timber Pointe Outdoor Center this summer.
Timber Pointe is located on 170 acres just outside Hudson, north of Bloomington-Normal. It's got all the stuff you’d want in a summer camp: boating, horseback riding, archery, rock climbing and high ropes courses. And because it has adaptive equipment, those with disabilities and illnesses can participate too.
Camp director Lydia Gartner said Timber Pointe saw fewer campers during the worst of COVID, as many are immunocompromised.
“Now, it’s the exact opposite: We’ve got wait lists for every week of camp. Some higher than 30 campers on that wait list for a week,” Gartner said. “We’ve got the camper interest back and truly bigger than ever before. We’ve got campers out the wazoo looking to attend camp.”
But to get those campers off the wait list, Timber Pointe needs more camp counselors.
Gartner said they want to hire five to 15 more counselors, plus program staff and activity coordinators. Camp counselors need to be at least 18. They will be paid a minimum rate of $375/week (a total of $3,375-$4,125 over the summer), and Timber Pointe provides all meals through on-site catering (College Fresh). They will need to live on site, in climate-controlled cabins with on-site laundry.
Timber Pointe can be flexible on counselors not necessarily needing to work every week of summer camp, Gartner said.
“We serve campers with over 70 different diagnoses. So, for folks going into special education, psychology, any health-related field like physical or occupational therapy, speech, nursing, anything like that – that’s where we typically see counselors come from,” Gartner said. “It’s that win-win, of getting to make an incredible impact on the lives of individuals with disabilities and challenging illnesses, but also gaining really, really awesome experience that’s going to benefit them in their future careers.”
Timber Pointe is not alone. Gartner said there's a nationwide shortage of camp counselors.
“We keep our ratios very low at Timber Pointe, because of the population we serve. We provide a lot of individualized support. So, with that, naturally we just need more staff.”
Those interested can contact Lexi Ray at LRay@eastersealsci.com or visit the Easterseals Career Center.
