Texas Summer Camps Welcome Kids with Disabilities Back

Six years after COVID forced Camp Blessing to close its doors, the Texas camp is finally welcoming back a full summer of campers with special needs.

The road back wasn't easy. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Camp Blessing in Brenham had to cancel everything. The virus posed serious risks to children with disabilities, many with compromised immune systems.

Director Greg Anderson calls those years the "slow season," but the team didn't waste time. They retooled their programs to focus on what mattered most: giving kids with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities the summer camp experience they deserved.

When doors reopened in 2021, only half the normal number of families signed up. Parents were scared to send vulnerable children away from home. But this summer, Camp Blessing expects to hit pre-pandemic numbers again.

Running these camps takes serious dedication. Each week, 60 campers arrive to zipline, kayak, make crafts, and show off talents. Supporting them are 180 staff and volunteers living on site, including teenage buddies assigned one-on-one to each camper, middle schoolers working the dining hall, cabin parents, and medical teams.

Other Texas camps mobilize similar forces. Hope Heals Camp in northern Alabama expects 3,000 participants this year, half of them volunteers. Camp Barnabas in Missouri needs 2,500 volunteers and 200 staff for 1,600 campers across nine weeks.

At Barnabas, director Brenda Brandt says staff actively adapt every activity for each camper's abilities. Rock walls, archery, swimming, and canoeing all happen with creative tweaks and extra hands. "We meet campers where they are while also pushing them to try something new," she said.

The challenges multiplied after last summer's devastating Hill Country flood killed over 130 people, including 25 campers at Camp Mystic. Texas passed new safety laws that increased costs dramatically. Camp Blessing's annual licensing fee jumped from $450 to $19,500. They spent another $70,000 on safety upgrades.

Some camps couldn't handle the financial burden and closed. But Camp Blessing and others fought through.

At Charis Hills, director Dava McDaniel spent early 2026 learning new regulations and making required upgrades. Her grandparents founded the camp for children with autism and ADHD as their "retirement project," inspired by her grandfather's childhood experiences with a prosthetic leg. She wasn't about to let their legacy fade.

The Ripple Effect

These camps transform more than just kids. Parents get desperately needed respite, knowing their children are safe, celebrated, and genuinely having fun. Teenage volunteers learn compassion and patience that will shape their futures. Medical staff donate expertise that changes lives every single day.

Anderson says the labor-intensive model creates something beautiful: discipleship at every level. When hundreds of people gather to serve dozens of kids, everyone leaves changed.

This summer, thousands of Texas children with disabilities will experience pure joy because entire communities decided they were worth the effort.