Christian Opportunity Center’s (COC) Life Skills is a day habilitation program for adults with disabilities that focuses on applying life skills, communication skills, and social skills in an integrated community setting. COC’s Life Skills programs are located in Pella, Knoxville, Oskaloosa, and Indianola.
Social skills for an individual with disabilities can be difficult to master and these skills are crucial to a person’s well-being and quality of life. COC continuously seeks out opportunities for the people we support to find alternative resources outside of our agency in which they can work on social skills.
Adult summer camps for people with disabilities are a fantastic way not only to work on these skills but to create new experiences and memories. COVID has caused many of the people that COC supports to experience disappointments, with the temporary closure of Life Skills and the cancelation of summer camps being two of the hardest blows.
COC Life Skills program re-opened recently after closing due to COVID. As Life Skills has re-opened, staff have taken additional precautions to keep the People we Support safe. Top priorities in the first weeks back have been wearing masks properly, social distancing, and personal hygiene to ensure safety. Staff is also planning ways to bring some beloved activities back into their lives safely. One plan is to host a safe Life Skills Summer Camp in Pella, Oskaloosa, Knoxville, and Indianola later this summer, which will have similarities to the camps that people supported are familiar with attending.
Daily activities will include campfire safety, learning how to put up a tent, building a birdfeeder, and will end with a cookout. Staff would also like to see each participant receive a souvenir shirt to remember this unique year.
“We hope that this camp will provide some joy and some normalcy in their life. Returning to Life Skills means so much to the people we support. One of our first days back, during our grateful prayer, many of the Persons Supported talked about how they were so thankful to be back at Life Skills with their staff and other people supported.”- Life Skills staff.
Like many things in 2020, this camp was a product of COVID and wasn’t previously planned or budgeted for. COC is fundraising to host the Life Skills Summer Camp by introducing a “Be Kind” t-shirt fundraiser to raise funds to cover the cost of expenses and shirts for each participant. Shirts can be purchased HERE. An option is also available to sponsor a shirt for the attendees of the camp. The COC t-shirt fundraising store will be accepting orders until July 26th. The camps will be held in late August in all locations.
