Spring 2021: Setting Up a Summer Sports Camp: How We Did It

Presented by: Christy Morrison and Vicki Numkena

Date: 05/07/2021

Wondering what is involved in setting up a camp for children with visual impairments? Where to start? What are the legal limitations and needs? Does the handbook by Laura Liberman give you all you need to know? What about non-profits? Come to this small panel discussion and ask away! We don’t know it all, but have had 2 years of experience in creating Camp Abilities Four Corners. Christy Morrison has been working in the field of visual impairment for over 20 years professionally and has been involved with vision loss for over 35 years. She is the parent of a remarkable 36-year-old daughter who is blind and has some cognitive challenges. She has worked in Southern Arizona at the Deaf and Blind School, SAAVI with visually impaired adults, and the Florence Unified School District, teaching O&M and Braille. She has been part of Camp Abilities Tucson, a sports camp for individuals with visual challenges, for the past 17 years. An educator for over 40 years, Vicki spent the first 12 years teaching children with Learning Disabilities all over the state of Arizona, including the Navajo and Hopi Indian Reservations. She taught preschoolers with vision impairments at the Visually Impaired Preschoolers’ Center, in Tucson for 17 years. Currently semi-retired, Vicki created Another Choice Vision Services, LLC to continue to provide VI services to children, birth through junior high school on the Navajo Reservation. Nearly two years ago, Vicki created a non-profit called “Visually Impaired/Blind Athletes of Northern Arizona” (VIBA-NAZ) to support the creation of Camp Abilities Four Corners. Vicki’s outdoor interests and Physical Education certification help her to bring a unique perspective to the task of creating this unique summer camp for students with visual impairments based in the four corners region.