Non-profit helping kids impacted by devastating California wildfires

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Project:Camp, a non-profit organization, helped kids and their families impacted by the devastating wildfires in Southern California by establishing camps that encouraging play and connections.

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00:00The trauma of the Los Angeles wildfires destroying destroyed homes, schools and communities for

00:07hundreds of families. Project Camp is a non-profit that creates free pop-up day

00:12camps to help kids after natural disasters. Mikey Lautner is the founder and executive

00:17director of Project Camp. Thanks so much for being with us. Thank you. It's good to be here.

00:22I appreciate it. Mikey, can you explain how and where Project Camp has been helping in the LA area?

00:30Yes, yeah. Since the disaster hit, we've opened 10 camps across both west and east Los Angeles

00:36as well as in Santa Barbara for kids who have been impacted by the fire, whether they've been

00:40evacuated, displaced from their homes, their schools, all over Southern California. And what

00:47kinds of activities and mental health support does Project Camp volunteers provide the kids?

00:54At Project Camp, we provide a free trauma-informed day camp for creating a space for kids to be kids

01:00and allowing parents to do the things that they need to do to navigate emergency services and

01:05rebuild their lives. So our kids are in activities, sports throughout the day, circle games, really

01:13taking advantage of the healing, therapeutic power of play to lower their stress and help

01:18them navigate this difficult period. And what have you seen kids going through

01:22these weeks? How does Project Camp help parents trying to navigate the disaster?

01:28The biggest thing that both our kids and our parents are facing is just uncertainty of what's

01:32next. Our kids were torn from their homes. They don't know if they'll be going back to school,

01:36where they'll be going back to school. And the same for their parents and school child care.

01:40There is a central pillar to community, to society, to economy. So parents understanding

01:46where their kid's going to be in school next has an implication for how they'll be able to get to

01:51work, where they're going to be living. And so being able to navigate that uncertainty,

01:56creating the space for them to do so has been really important for our families.

02:00Now the organization, excuse me, the organization started in California in 2018.

02:07Were there other disasters, other disasters Project Camp helped children and their families?

02:15Yes, Project Camp is a national organization. So we've responded to wildfires, hurricanes,

02:19tornadoes flooding across the country. In California, we responded to the Dixie Fire

02:252021, Calder Fire, a few other larger Northern California wildfires. And as climate change

02:32increases the frequency and severity of disaster, that stuff is becoming ever more frequent and

02:36ever more severe. You are doing some incredible work. How can people who are watching right now

02:41listening to this help? Thank you. Yeah, I really appreciate that. For us really being able to

02:47uplift the need for child care as a part of disaster relief. So our work is free for the

02:52communities we serve. It's free for all the families that send their kids to camp. And

02:55we're supported by donors, large and small that make this work possible.

03:00All right, Mikey Lattner from California Project Camp, helping children out. We thank you so much

03:09for joining us and all of the things that you're doing. Thank you. It's a pleasure.

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