Maui camp hopes to offer comfort to local foster kids | News, Sports, Jobs

Maui foster children enjoy a water balloon toss during the Royal Family KIDS Camp last summer in this photo provided and altered by organizers to protect the identity of participating kids. The camp, which is held at an undisclosed location on Maui, will take place next week and is free for qualified foster children. — ROYAL FAMILY KIDS CAMP photo

Some were physically and sexually abused by family members, others recently lost a parent, while others have been bounced around from one foster home to another in a span of about one week.

These are just some of the backgrounds of the day campers at Royal Family KIDS Camp Maui, a free, five-day summer camp for foster children ages 6 to 11, which will be held for a third year on the Valley Isle beginning Monday.

“They need some relief. They need some comfort,” said Chapter Director Nestor Fontanilla, who has volunteered his time to head the camp.

Fontanilla said the camp takes months to prepare for, and at times, “I’m going to bed at 2 (a.m.) and waking up at 6 (a.m.)”

“The passion for me is these kids need positive experiences. These kids need to know there are people who love them,” he said on Friday.

But what also drives Fontanilla is his own experiences.

“I’ve gone through my own abuse issues, the hell that I went through I knew God had a purpose behind it. Because there’s a saying: ‘God doesn’t waste pain,’ and so when I recovered, I knew there was a calling but I just didn’t know what, where and how,” he said.

“I knew it had to deal with abused children, so this was presented to me 30 years ago, but I kind of put it aside.”

Then prior to the pandemic, one of the directors of the camp’s organization was vacationing on Maui and left a brochure about it at Fontanilla’s church, Grace Church Maui. The church secretary gave it to him.

“I wanted to cry, cause it was like ‘is this for me?'” Fontanilla recalled.

Royal Family KIDS Camp here on Maui is a local chapter of more than 220 camps nationwide and internationally, according to its website. The camp was founded in 1985 as a faith-based program of For the Children, a nonprofit comprised of a network of local churches. The Maui Chapter is in its third year of operation.

The local chapter’s website says the camp “fosters resiliency, self-esteem, hope and positive memories.”

The five-day Maui summer day camp is in collaboration with volunteers from the local churches on Maui. It is also accepting recent adoptees and children who are in legal guardianship with their biological parents/grandparents though Child Welfare Services.

“The kids have come from abused and neglected homes,” second-year volunteer Holly Folsom said. “Because they are in foster care they have been taken out of their home for situations that I don’t know, we don’t know the details of, we don’t ask them about any of that. We just come to encourage them and point out the things they are doing right and things they are doing great and positively and very sincerely reinforce all of that.”

Folsom said there is a therapeutic purpose to the play and activities done at camp, but “we are mainly focusing on them just having fun.”

“Most children get to go to camps for the summer, but with these children, you don’t know what’s offered to them,” Folsom said.

She added that one of the activities the camp has is a birthday celebration for all the campers.

“It’s possible that birthdays get completely overlooked (in foster care). So we put as much fun as possible into the big birthday celebration day,” Folsom said.

Folsom recalled one of the campers she was paired up with last year. The girl was quiet, but in the end they formed a bond.

“You could tell there had been some deep hurt with her,” Folsom said. “We just had fun and a good time.”

Folsom was left in tears after reading a letter the girl wrote, which all campers do at the end of the week. The girl said she felt loved by Folsom.

Folsom she was not alone, as there were similar letters to other camp leaders.

“I was just being a friend to her,” she said.

“It’s our hope, just even a little bit of positive reinforcement and encouragement can change the trajectory of their future,” Folsom said.

According to the American Society for the Positive Care of Children, of the youth who age out of foster care, one-fourth are incarcerated within two years and only half graduate from high school.

Children and adolescents with foster care experience are diagnosed with PTSD at twice the rate of U.S. war veterans, the nonprofit said on its website.

There are around 300 foster children on Maui, and Fontanilla hopes to at least have 10 percent of that total attend the summer camp. The camp averaged around 24 campers the first two years. It currently has 20 campers and may have room for 10 more, Fontanilla said.

So far, the experience has already produced some happy campers.

Eight-year-old Everett, who had been in foster care and was adopted in 2022 but continues to attend the camp, said, “I love the camp. Because we have a lot of activities. The arts and crafts are amazing and we have the best counselors.”

Last year, Everett, whose last name was withheld to protect his identity, wrote his own song for the talent show at the end of the week. The song was called “Crazy” and had some inspiration from pop star Shawn Mendes. He also belted out some lines on the phone Friday during an interview.

The ratio for the camp is about one leader for every two campers. Fontanilla said they are no longer taking volunteers for this year, as the volunteers must undergo a background check and hours of training, including how to assist the campers. For example, if a child acts out, the child may be hungry, thirsty, missing their parents or maybe have something else going on.

But instead of doing a “timeout” where a child sits in the corner for acting out, they do “time in.” It’s not a free pass for the child to act out, but rather an opportunity for leaders have one-on-one time with a camper to find out what may be going on and try to understand what the camper may be feeling and have them express that.

Fontanilla said they are careful of the campers’ feelings and emotions. He refers to the adults as “camp leaders” rather than “counselors,” which may make it seem like the child is in trouble again.

The camp is held at an undisclosed location for the security and safety of the foster children. It is also sanctioned by Child Welfare Services, which does not solicit youth for the camp.

Fontanilla said it costs about $300 for each child for the five-day camp but they do not charge the campers. The summer event also relies on community donors. Fontanilla added many donors are eager to help out once they find out what the camp is all about.

For those interested in learning more, and for foster parents interested in having a child join on a first-come, first-served basis, visit royalfamilykidsmaui.org.

* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.

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