Greetings campers! Here they are, our Pre-Camp Shared Agreements! We, your camp organizers & hosts, have created these as a way for us to feel comfortable and confident in starting camp with integrity, trust, care, and safety, and for supporting a quality of connection we’re hoping to nurture in our time together. Our request is that you take some time to look these over as a family before coming to camp, and if you have a strong objection to any of these, or if you feel you could not honor any one of these while at camp, please contact usand we’d like to hear what needs are preventing you from a big YES. If you just have some minor discomfort, but can still agree to them, there will be time dedicated near the beginning of camp to share or discuss those discomforts and discover or find a way to honor the needs behind them. Thank you for your part in helping us hold a safe, nourishing, fun camp! Respectfully, Your camp hosts
1) Family Connectivity and Accountability In an effort to support safety, care, and self responsibility in an open environment, we ask campers to come up with a system of tracking inside their family unit, with periodic check-ins during the day at meal times or otherwise. For instance, you can decide who in the family is a Lion, Tiger or Bear! Lions - roam freely. Tigers - let someone know when you are moving from one place to another at camp. Bears - always let someone know when you want to move from one place to another, and when you travel you do it with an adult or teen or someone your family has an agreement with. (and due to the fact that we have actual Bears nearby, it is pretty important that you have someone nearby or in proximity at most times). We hope to create an interconnected web where we can co-hold each others families with care, and until that is clearly happening or until we have explicit agreement with each other, it is up to you to track, tend and hold your family with the accountability and support necessary in any public or communal setting. Please let us know if you have any questions around this.
2) Quiet Time For consideration of rest /sleep for our neighbors, creatures, families with young children, and others who go to bed early, and to comply with the retreat center request we ask that “quiet time” begin at 9:00 PM. Wind-down time... Look for the bats… getting dark... When you see them flying, the night time is emerging and the daylight creatures seek their nests.
3) Fire Safety To protect life, and care for our physical environs, please follow the camp rules, tracking burn restrictions that may be in effect.
4) Presence & Sobriety To cultivate a safe and supportive environment for all camp members, we agree to support a drug-free and alcohol-free environment. If you are a smoker, please reach out to us to determine a smoking area.
5) Technology/Electronic Media: Please only bring electronic technology that supports interpersonal connection. Examples: A phone that has a dance tune you’d like to share with the group. A phone that’s a camera and you’re taking photos
If you want to bring technology for other reasons, eg: business, social media, gaming, please talk to us about it. We ask that you leave it in your car or your tent.
Why? We’d like to support an environment that is interpersonally infused with consent, awareness of impact/mindfulness about our habits, possible exposure of others, and connecting both interpersonally and with Nature.
6) Restorative System & Using the Tools If you have a conflict or are uncomfortable with any dynamics or individuals at camp, we ask that you make a commitment to ask for support in practicing the NVC tools, peacemaking and supporting growth and by making use of the Restorative System menu options available.
7) Building Community Connections, Continuity and Trust If possible the request to all campers is to come for the entire time of camp. And we also know that many can be challenged to come for the entire time. Our request is that you communicate any potential comings and goings of family members (including yourself) to care for the impact on the community (& you), as well as certain needs for accessibility or flexibility. Let's talk about it! nvcfamilycamp@gmail.com
8) Bears and the Wild The land we are inhabiting is rich in natural resources, therefore it is the home to many wild creatures including Bear and Mountain Lion. We ask that you do not wader off without a buddy or without letting others know where you're going, and we ask that you take extra care to not leave food or "good smelling possible bear snacks" around. (Random items which recently inspired a bear to break into a car or yurt: play dough, a purse that recently had a bar of some sort in it, eye pillow, soap (?!?)).
