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Napa camp

Essay: A LightHouse staffer on what EHC means to her family

03/01/2018 LightHouse Staff 1 Comment

By Lisamaria Martinez

Last summer, I had the opportunity to vacation with my family at Enchanted Hills Camp during a Family Camp session. This is the second summer my family and I were able to spend a few glorious days atop of Mt. Veeder, in Napa. We hope to make this annual trek to Napa a family tradition.

I’ve have a unique perspective of camp—as a camper and as an employee of the LightHouse for the Blind. I first started working at the LightHouse in December of 2008, but didn’t step foot onto EHC soil until the summer of 2010. I really missed out those first 18 months. Camp is beautiful and breathtaking and a wonderful place for blind youth and adults to experience life, gain confidence by doing activities they never thought possible, and of course, it is a wonderful place to make new friends.

I’ve been to camp for LightHouse sponsored programs like our 2011 employment summit or our youth leadership retreats. I’ve also been to camp to paint fences, make emergency kits, clean out buildings, and many other beautification projects. They all have been delightful experiences. However, going to camp as a camper beats it all!

I am a blind mom and wife. I have three lovely children who are six years old (Erik), two years old (Zakary), and seven months old (MacKenzy). They all love camp (well, the judgement is still out from the seven month old). Children plus blind person makes my family eligible for family camp, so last year, my husband and I made the decision to try it out. Erik cried when we left camp because he wasn’t ready to go back home.

I remember Erik’s first camp experience at 7 months old. I was there for an Employment Summit and I was lucky enough to stay the night with my family. My husband and I were so anxious about his cries during the night and how he might interrupt the sleep of others residing in the lodge. I also remember our second trip with him about a year later for Cycle for Sight, and how absolutely fascinated and enthralled he was at the frogs and their constant cacophony during the night. He couldn’t sleep because he was amazed at the sounds they made. Needless to say, my husband and I didn’t sleep much that night, but we rode just fine the next day.

Enchanted Hills is a place where new discoveries happen and memories are made. Erik discovered soy milk because a camp staff person told him it tasted like vanilla ice cream. Both Erik and Zakary have discovered foosball at camp. My boys have learned to play with blind kids their own age. They are both sighted but aren’t around many blind kids; adults, yes, but not kids. My children have become more comfortable and confident about swimming. They’ve learned to tie-dye, horseback ride, enjoy hiking in forests, pick wild blackberries, make zucchini pizzas in solar ovens, and they have relished in the freedom that my husband and I have allowed them to experience in a place where everyone is family and everyone looks out for each other.

As a blind mom, I’ve had the chance to talk to blind kids at camp about growing up and being a blind parent someday. They didn’t know that parenting was an option for them because they didn’t know blind people could be parents. I’ve met parents who have blind children and we’ve talked about expectations and raising blind children in a sighted world and I’ve become a resource for them. At camp, I’ve hung out with other blind parents and simply enjoyed the camaraderie while watching our children run wild.

Enchanted Hills Camp is one-of-a-kind and I’m lucky that I can experience it both as an employee and as a camper. As an employee, I have great pride in a world-class camp for blind youth and adults. As a camper, I’m proud to share it with my family and I’m proud to see firsthand the excellence of the camp staff. They are all caring and fun and dedicated to making EHC the place to be.

Now, more than ever, Enchanted Hills needs your support and donations. To give by mobile device, text REBUILDEHC to 501-55.

No amount is too small or insignificant, and every dollar donated will go to ensuring that the coming years will bring new growth and opportunity for our home away from home. Donate here or contact Jennifer Sachs at 415-694-7333 or jsachs@lighthouse-sf.org and tell her you want to help “Rebuild EHC” to learn more about providing dedicated funds to rebuild and re-open camp to the public.

LightHouse News

Everything EHC Podcast: A Peek into our Camp’s Day-to-Day

07/20/2017 Megan Borella

Enchanted Hills Camp’s Enrichment Area Leader Masceo Williams is putting a fresh spin on Enchanted Hills Camp in Napa, California through his new podcast, Everything EHC.

“Years from now, I want people to be able to look back and see what we were doing in the past. There are so many interesting people here, and I want to be able to capture their stories through the podcast,” says Masceo (pronounced May-cee-o).

Masceo, who is blind, got involved with camp in 2014 as the nature area leader and has continued being an active member of the EHC community. He started the podcast to raise awareness about the camp within the blind community, and show what camp has done for the diverse group of both blind and sighted individuals who come back year after year.

Though LightHouse can’t take any credit for producing the podcast, LightHouse and EHC employees have featured in numerous episodes. As Masceo said in his first episode, the podcast is “recorded at EHC, by EHC, and for EHC.” The 30 episodes recorded so far, with the promise of many more to come over the summer, cover everything from camp history to band and movie reviews. In each episode, Masceo interviews a featured guest and collects a wide variety of perspectives on camp. He has featured camp director Tony Fletcher, camp counselors and other leaders, and both campers and parents during the summer’s first session of family camp.

By speaking to so many individuals, some who are new to camp and others who are very familiar with EHC’s charm, he conveys the true enchantment and beauty found there. EHC is a place where blind campers—adults and children—can find independence and lifelong friends all in the space of a few days. The property is also rented out during the off-season, allowing others to partake in its mystique while simultaneously benefitting the blind community.

Listen to a few of our favorites:

Episode 1: Get to know Camp Director Tony Fletcher

Episode 12: Chilling with Camp Counselor Nasir & Volunteer Vinay

Episode 18: With Camp regular Ken Rossi

Featured, LightHouse News

Camper Spotlight: Billy Lei

06/21/2017 Andrea Ogarrio

Nineteen-year-old Enchanted Hills camper Billy Lei bubbles with enthusiasm as he describes his first session at EHC, saying, “I loved Enchanted Hills from the first moment I got there. I loved the space, the trees, the people, all of it!”

Billy moved with his family from China to Sacramento eight years ago. They moved in part to give Billy the education he couldn’t get in China, where children with disabilities are often shuttered away. It was a big change. He says, “I was just eleven when I came here. I didn’t know the language and remember having to adjust to the hotter weather and different food.” Despite these challenges, Billy began to sharpen his English, dig into academics and learn how to relate to his American peers.

And Billy wanted to do more than that. At first, he might have been mistaken for shy, but he explains, “…that’s not really my nature. I learned a lot in school, but I wanted to become more confident and push myself even more.” That is exactly what he did at Enchanted Hills.

Since 1950, Enchanted Hills Camp, sprawling across 311 idyllic acres in the redwoods of Napa, is the place where children and adults who are blind or have low vision try new things, experience the grandeur of wilderness and make lifelong friends. Each year Enchanted Hills offers more than 550 campers the chance to enjoy nature while learning all kinds of skills, from archery to tactile crafts, from campfire-building to horseback riding.

Billy jumped at the chance to go to camp. Once there he learned to navigate the undulating campus and enjoy all that the camp had to offer. He tells us, “There’s so much that I love about Enchanted Hills. I love nature – I love hiking and the feeling of open space, the sound of the birds – it’s a happy place to be and I can really relax my mind. I love all kinds of physical activity and I took my very first martial arts class there. I liked it so much that I continue to take classes here at home.”

Camp Director Tony Fletcher says, “Billy is a great role model for the younger campers and he always takes advantage of the opportunities offered to him. We’ve seen how EHC can be a gateway to the deep learning of the rest of the LightHouse. Billy has run with this. He really threw himself into camp life. Now he’s getting ready to take on the working world as an active member of LightHouse’s Youth programs. He is learning how to do a great job interview.”

This summer, hundreds of young campers will set up their cabins and meet blind friends, old and new. Together they will gain confidence and a sense of pride in who they are. Please donate to help us continue to make camp a place for blind kids to discover themselves.

View the full list of our camp sessions here. We still have spaces at our STEAM Camp, the special tech track in our youth camp session, from July 12 to 15 — learn more about this dynamic and educational session on our website.