To all our 2017 CAMPS Project partners:
THANK YOU!
The organizations listed below have generously provided free spaces in their programs for youth from Ottawa Community Housing neighbourhoods.
See OttawaSportsCAMPS.ca for more detailed information on each of them.
The Ottawa Summer Sports CAMPS Guide was published as a special insert inside the June/July 2017 Ottawa Sportspage newspaper. You can view it online at: https://issuu.com/ottawasportspage/docs/sportspage-june17/7 (pages 7 through 14). Scroll to the end of this page to see how you can become involved with the CAMPS Project!
About the CAMPS Project
The Connecting Athletes of All Means to Paths in Sport Project is an initiative that provides free sports opportunities to youth living in Ottawa Community Housing neighbourhoods.
The summer camps or seasonal programs positions are offered by the sports organizations featured within this guide, which receive heavily discounted advertising in the Ottawa Sportspage newspaper and on OttawaSportsCAMPS.ca in exchange for providing the opportunities at no cost to the OCH youth.
The CAMPS Project is run in collaboration with the Ottawa Community Housing Foundation’s recLINK program, which employs sport and recreation as a tool to build healthy communities and offer at-risk children and youth a brighter future.
Worthy participants are identified by recLINK’s family coordinators, who work in OCH communities to actively engage children and youth. They work with families to implement solutions to overcome barriers to sports participation such as financial challenges, language barriers, knowledge of sports systems/supporting organizations, parental capacity, transportation and social isolation.
The CAMPS Project would not be possible without the efforts of numerous funding organizations, staff and volunteers, and of course our partner sports groups.
The organizations featured in this guide not only provide exceptional sports experiences, developmental opportunities and loads of fun, they are also committed to giving back to their communities. Each of these CAMPS Project partners have offered a minimum of 2 free positions in their camps or seasonal programs to OCH youth. We thank them for their collaboration and encourage you to support these groups in turn!
The CAMPS Project vision
Sports offer not only health benefits from physical activity, but also help teach resiliency, discipline, confidence and self-esteem, and decrease feelings of isolation while creating a sense of belonging.
Our program connects children and youth to free sports opportunities with our partner organizations, primarily community sport clubs, who are leaders in athlete and character development, and community building.
This setting engages the youth in positive activities, exposes them to role models, and aids in integration to Canadian society for new Canadians. It combats isolation within their own community and allows them to discover available opportunities.
For talented athletes, the program can open the door to university athletic scholarship opportunities and sports careers, and for all, it teaches an active lifestyle and fosters an interest to be part of next generation of sport volunteers, coaches and mentors in our community.
The program links cross-sections of our community that otherwise may not interact frequently, allows participants from diverse backgrounds learn from one another, and helps build stronger communities.
Ottawa Community Sport Media Team
The CAMPS Project functions under the guidance of the incorporated not-for-profit Ottawa Community Sport Media Team. OCSMT also operates the Ottawa Sportspage newspaper, which provides a voice for local sport by telling stories that seldom appear in any other media.
We are devoted to celebrating the successes of Ottawa’s amateur sports community and promoting local access-to-sport initiatives. Our goal is to help build community sport. All our proceeds are reinvested towards those objectives.
OCH Foundation for Healthy Communities
OCH Foundation, goes beyond the bricks and mortar in order to help each of its 32,000 tenants achieve personal success through education, employment, and community engagement.
Amongst the OCH Foundation’s initiatives is recLINK. recLINK helps children and youth (ages 6-18) participate in recreation during critical after-school hours by helping them identify and overcome complex and intersecting barriers to access.
recLINK is supported by Trinity Development Foundation and Ottawa Senators Foundation.
Ottawa Community Foundation
The Ottawa Community Foundation is a public, non-profit organization created by and for the people of Ottawa. It connects donors who care with causes that matter and serves as a trusted resource for addressing issues and leveraging opportunities in the community. It attracts and manages a growing endowment, the invested earnings of which provide grants to charitable organizations.
The Foundation’s role is as neutral broker in support of all charitable causes that contribute to the community’s quality of life. With a growing profile, the Ottawa Community Foundation has built an enviable reputation for astute financial management, high-quality donor services, strategic grantmaking and innovative partnerships. For more information, visit www.ocf-fco.ca.
Community Foundations of Canada
About the Community Fund for Canada’s 150th:
The Community Fund for Canada’s 150th has activated a breathtaking array of initiatives and activities that are bringing out the best Canada has to offer for the sesquicentennial. The Fund has provided communities with thousands of small grants to support local projects, distributed by participating community foundations from coast to coast to coast.
Community foundations are philanthropic organizations that direct grants, leadership and other investments toward community initiatives. Across the country more than 85% of Canadian communities have access to a community foundation – from our largest cities to our smallest towns.
Broadly, the Fund supports thousands of local projects connected to Canada’s 150th, that:
ENCOURAGE participation in community activities and events to mark Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation.
INSPIRE a deeper understanding about the people, places and events that shape our country and our communities.
BUILD vibrant and healthy communities with the broadest possible engagement of all Canadians, including indigenous peoples; groups that reflect our cultural diversity; youth; and official language minorities.
The Community Fund for Canada’s 150th is a collaborative effort, seeded by the Government of Canada and extraordinary leaders from coast to coast to coast, and matched and delivered locally by Canada’s 191 community foundations.
Our Canada 150 Project:
To mark Canada’s 150th, the CAMPS Project is offering introductory clinics in OCH communities for kids to try many different sports, including a number that are less commonly practiced/accessible in particular.
The Community Fund for Canada’s 150th has also helped fuel an expansion of the number of children and youth reached by the CAMPS Project, and assisted in building organizational capacity and the relationships necessary to continue to deliver at that enhanced rate beyond 2017.
actKIDvity
Transportation provider actKIDvity shuttles CAMPS Project participants to and from their sports activities. actKIDvity CAO (Chief actKIDvity Officer) Abdul Sadiku has gone above-and-beyond to not only get our kids to their programs, but also do everything possible to ensure they have great experiences.
actKIDvity offers safe, reliable and friendly transportation for children. Before- and after-school transport and 12-seat charter rentals (perfect for smaller sports teams) are available at affordable rates.
See actKIDvity.com for more information.
Sport Chek
Sport Chek has provided gift cards for CAMPS Project participants to purchase quality sports equipment.
Ottawa Sport Council
The Ottawa Sport Council’s mentorship program provided invaluable guidance in the startup stages of the Ottawa Community Sport Media Team.
Become a CAMPS Project partner today!
Have your organization join this growing movement in the Ottawa sports community.
We also welcome support from businesses and individuals.
And look out for next year’s Ottawa Summer Sports Camps Guide – to be published in March & May 2018! Contact editor@sportsottawa.com or CAMPSproject@ochfoundation.ca for more details.