Every year, weeks before California Hands & Voices Family Camp in Julian begins, 10-year-old San Diegan Vivian asks her mom the same question: “How many more days until camp?”
Vivian first attended California Hands & Voices family camp before she could walk. A decade later, she returns whenever she can to reconnect with a vibrant community of Deaf and Hard of Hearing children, families and mentors.
At camp, relationships span generations, creating opportunities for children like Vivian to build friendships, meet role models and grow alongside a community that celebrates the many ways people communicate and experience the world.
For her mother, Janell Graves, that sense of belonging is what makes camp so special.
“It just feels like a breath of fresh air, because everybody there is in the same boat,” she said. “Everybody understands.”
The Power of Belonging
That shared understanding is at the heart of California Hands & Voices, a statewide nonprofit that provides parent-to-parent support for families of children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.
This year, a $50,000 grant from the San Diego Unity Fund helped California Hands & Voices continue providing that support as federal funding cuts created new gaps in services for families of children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.
For many families, raising a Deaf or Hard of Hearing child is a new experience. More than 90% of Deaf children are born to hearing parents, making organizations like California Hands & Voices an important source of connection, shared knowledge and peer support.
Throughout the year, trained parent navigators help families connect to services, navigate educational and healthcare systems and access resources tailored to their children’s needs.
The grant also expanded access to their family camp through scholarships for 14 families.
“The information that families learn at camp opens so many doors to them,” said Cora Shahid, executive director of California Hands & Voices. “Families learn how to advocate for their child, so that they can get the support and services they need.”
The organization intentionally creates a space where every family feels welcome. Whether a child uses American Sign Language, spoken language, hearing technology or another communication approach, families are encouraged to learn from one another and support each other’s choices.
Opening the Door for More Families
For Janell’s family, a scholarship made it possible for them to attend.
The past few years have brought significant health challenges for her husband, making it more difficult for the family to go to camp together. The scholarship also paid for Vivian’s two siblings to attend.
“It means a lot for me that it’s something that we were able to do together as a family,” she said. “I didn’t have to try to make that choice about potentially leaving them out.”
Kristal Molina also knows firsthand how meaningful scholarship support can be.
Before becoming the California Hands & Voices volunteer camp director, she attended camp as a parent. At times, scholarships made participation possible for her family.
“When we first started, we came on a scholarship,” Kristal said. “There were a couple years we came back on a scholarship, and that was the only way we would’ve been able to attend.”
More than 20 years later, camp remains a family tradition. Kristal’s daughter, Lily, now 26, still maintains friendships that began at camp as a child, while her son, Josiah, has also returned as a camp leader. Together, they’re helping create the same welcoming experience for a new generation of families.
And somewhere, weeks before next summer’s camp begins, another child will likely start asking the same question Vivian does every year: “How many more days until camp?”
