As part of The Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation (JDAF), Camp TLC offered children impacted by HIV/AIDS a safe space in the summertime. It was an opportunity for kids to be in a positive-friendly environment 24/7, where stigma was barred entry and everyone understood why you had to take a pill break.

For a variety of reasons, some personal and some financial, JDAF has been on hold for the past couple of years. Though JDAF is not as of yet actively pursuing its mission, Camp TLC is the first of its programs to be back, albeit with a different approach to serving children in need but still channeling the gumption of Joey DiPaolo, who, as a youngster openly living with HIV/AIDS, faced discrimination and disaffection at school. (DiPaolo, now in his thirties, is still active in AIDS work and recently married.)

“We’re going to be touring the country and going from nursing homes to group homes to shelters,” says Caroline Baumis, Camp TLC’s new executive director, about the changes. Baumis used to run a summer camp for children with HIV, AmeriKids, which is how she met Carol DiPaolo-Ventarola, the cofounder of JDAF.

“We’re going to expand camp and reach out to those kids who can’t go to summer camp because they’re residing at a facility.”

Camp will expand in another way, too. “We’re not solely going to be HIV-focused anymore, though we have some HIV places selected, like Incarnation Children’s Center and St. Mary’s Nursing Home,” says Baumis, who does not rule out revitalizing more HIV-specific programming in the future.

“You always had those cases where the kids couldn’t go to camp because they were ill or they were living in some kind of circumstance where they just couldn’t [go],” Baumis explains. “There were a lot of kids who missed out because they were spending their summer in a hospital or nursing home. Then I took it one step further when I talked to Carol and thought about the kids who were possibly in domestic violence [situations]. If we can go in for a week and make them feel like a kid again and they can forget about the circumstances they’re living in then we’ve made a difference.”

Camp TLC will travel by tour bus and tote camp supplies in tractor trailers, fueling up and starting its engines in May of this year. “Hopefully, we can leave the supplies behind [with each organization],” says Baumis about the idea to make the payload of fun last beyond TLC’s five-day stays.

Camp will change depending on the site. Physical activities at a hospital might be limited, for instance, whereas a group home in Kentucky might have the space for a campfire, notes Baumis. Ultimately, camp depends on the partnering organization. “For example, we’ll be meeting with St. Mary’s Nursing Home in Queens and developing a program that they want to see. [It won’t be] us coming in and saying this is what we want to do. It’s going to be more, ‘What do you want?’ Budgets are being cut, and programs are being dropped left and right, so what can we do to bring your kids—the population you know best—a great summer camp experience?” says Baumis about TLC’s tailored approach to this question.

Camp TLC has no shortage of ideas and energy. What it needs, however, is a boost in funding. “We’re looking for financial donations, product donations, corporate sponsors. In fact, what we’ll do for those corporations that donate is place their logo on the side of the truck! It’s an innovative way of bringing camp as a community to communities that are underserved.”

For more information or learn how you can donate, log on to www.jdaf.org or contact Caroline Baumis by phone at (917) 363-5154.

January 2011