For Children of Prisoners, Summer Camp Helps Them Feel Just Like Everyone Else

Anna Katz was at a loss. It was already June and the mother of three from northern California didn’t know how she would keep her kids busy all summer. After her husband made a bad business decision that landed him in prison in February 2014, life as she knew it came to an abrupt end. With her meager income, and no longer able to rely on a steady paycheck from her husband, Katz could barely afford the basics. Paying for summer camp for her kids seemed out of the question.

“I was worried about my daughter,” said Katz, “it’s [so] easy for kids to make the wrong choices and to take a darker path. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever been able to afford camp.”

The Aleph Institute stepped in. Aleph, a nonprofit based in Florida, with additional offices in New York and Los Angeles, works to serve the needs of Jewish prisoners and their families throughout the US prison system.

In 2011, Aleph launched the Summer Camp Placement & Scholarship Initiative, which enables hundreds of children with parents in correctional facilities to attend Jewish summer camp by arranging all the logistics from beginning to end, while offering generous subsidies and scholarships to make camp a reality. The program was since renamed to ‘The Aleph Institute Jonathan Stampler Camp Fund’ thanks to a very generous grant from Mrs. Joy Fishman, in honor of her late son.

Aleph’s family services director Rabbi Shua Brook, was in touch with the Katz family since shortly after her husband’s incarceration. “The Rabbi’s at Aleph were and still are my human angels here on earth. They became my extended family, worrying for every detail of our life”. When realizing that the children have no summer plans and have never attended a Jewish camp, Rabbi Brook offered Anna a full camp scholarship for all three kids, and found donors who were willing to cover the cost. Jodi & Ryan (13 & 11) flew to overnight camps in the northeast while John (9) stayed in a local Jewish day camp. This summer, all 3 children have returned to those overnight camps and are having a blast.

Although Aleph helps hundreds of families with their urgent necessities, like covering costs of housing, food, utility bills etc., and advocates for a long term solution of the family’s financial and emotional needs, Brook feels that certain “luxury” items – like camp – can have an incredible impact on a child’s life. Through providing the family with the opportunity for their child to attend a camp and be as lucky as other children that can afford it, these children receive an immeasurable self esteem boost that helps them navigate through this most challenging period of their lives.

“The benefits of camp are many,” explains Brook. “Firstly, it provides for the parent at home – going thru the torture of having a spouse in prison, with much needed respite, to find time for themselves, in order to continue working and supporting the family throughout their tough circumstances.

“Also, it creates a fun and meaningful experience for the kids, in which they can make new friends and explore essential Jewish values. It also helps the entire family have a positive Jewish experience and become more involved with their local Jewish community, as a result.”

Throughout the past 5 years, Aleph has managed to send a few hundred children to Jewish camps across the US and abroad. The major positive impact this summer experience had on so many of the children and their families, is well worth all the work of getting the parent and child on board, placing them in a good camp and paying the costs.

This summer alone, Aleph sent 96 children to local Jewish camps across the country. Forty-One children are attending overnight camps such as CTeen Heritage Quest, CTeen Xtreme, Camp L’man Achai, and CGI Poconos amongst others.

“Camp made Judaism come alive for my children, especially for my teenage girl,” Katz adds. “It taught her good values. When she came home last year, she wanted to dress more modestly. Now, she works at the local Hebrew School and is giving back to others”.

To reach out to Aleph family services department for someone in need or to donate, please email [email protected]
The Aleph Institute, founded in 1981 at the express direction of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and headed by Rabbi Sholom Lipskar & Rabbi Aaron Lipskar of Surfside, FL, provides crucial financial, emotional and spiritual assistance to thousands of shattered families – helping them persevere through extraordinary crises – while providing support for their loved ones in prison and mental institutions. Aleph’s benevolent mandate also encompasses spiritual assistance to thousands of soldiers in the United States Armed Forces across the globe.