Sleepaway Camp Staples: Sun, Fun, Games and Now Therapy
As the United States grapples with a mental-health crisis, summer camps are looking more closely at the children in their care.
Written by Ellen Barry; Photographs by Brittainy Newman
Ms. Klein, fourth from left, lunching with campers. She is a mental health coordinator at NJY Camps, a network of Jewish overnight camps in Pennsylvania.
Ziplining and other adventures at Nah-Jee-Wah. Summer camp has always involved a degree of emotional struggle, but directors say campers have arrived with more severe issues.
Basketballs and hula-hoops at Nah-Jee-Wah.
Ms. Klein led a discussion about cleanliness and cooperation at one of the bunks.
Counseling a young camper. In 2021, between 35 and 40 campers were sent home from NJY camps because of homesickness or anxiety, which was a record for the camp.
Heather Klein, a camp social worker, counseled a camper who was feeling homesick at Camp Nah-Jee-Wah in Milford, Pa.
Trading Jibbitz. “They’re like what cigarettes are to prisoners,” Ms. Klein said. “Jibbitz are very important here.”
“Get messy,” a sign in the ceramics classroom advised.
Heather Klein, a camp social worker, (center) hugs campers who were upset that their friend got kicked out of camp because they were found having a vape at NJY Camp in Milford, PA on July 27, 2023.
Fan art for Ms. Klein.
Heather Klein, a camp social worker, hugs campers who were upset that their friend got kicked out of camp because they were found having a vape at NJY Camp in Milford, PA on July 27, 2023.
Sunset over the lake at Nah-Jee-Wah.
Heather Klein, a camp social worker says hello to campers through a window screen at NJY Camp in Milford, PA on July 27, 2023.
Heather Klein, a camp social worker, gets her hair braided and gets fake temporary tattoos put on her by the campers at NJY Camp in Milford, PA on July 27, 2023.
Ms. Klein and Carrie Youngs, the director of Nah-Jee-Wah, taking a call about a camper with diabetes.
(left to right) Heather Klein, a camp social worker, and Carrie Youngs, director of Nah-Jee-Wah, received a notification that a young girls diabetes number was low and arrived at her bunk to do a reading and give her some sugar at NJY Camp in Milford, PA on July 27, 2023.
Ms. Klein spoke with two campers who were upset that their friend was kicked out for having vape products.
Heather Klein, a camp social worker, helps calm Elizabeth, 14, down at NJY Camp in Milford, PA on July 27, 2023. Elizabeth didn’t receive her antidepressant medication in the morning and the day before and was having a panic attack.