Hope Connection 2001

mission statement

Hope Connection is a therapeutic summer/weekend camp designed to help families who have adopted children with backgrounds of abuse, neglect, and/or institutionalization. We are committed to the belief that positive change is possible even when families experience difficult special needs adoptions. Our goal is to serve as a catalyst for constructive, positive growth by the child and his or her parents, thereby restoring hope to severely challenged families.

Who Participates?

Children ages six to eleven with behavioral, social, and/or language difficulties that interfere with normal social development, both at home and at school. Although children attend camp without their parents, parents are expected to be active participants. The Hope Connection is not designed for children with severe disturbances that may place themselves or others at risk.

Summer Camp

The centerpiece of the Hope Connection experience is the summer day camp, held at Starpoint School on the TCU campus during the month of June. Children attend camp for four weeks, from 8:30am to 4:30pm. Camp activities are offered by students and professionals in the areas of speech and language pathology, occupational therapy, equine therapy, special education, and counseling psychology. Although Starpoint School is the primary facility, campers also use TCU's Rickel Building (which houses an olympic-size pool), and the Right Track Horsemanship Academy in Weatherford (campers are transported by TCU vans).

Weekend Camp

The Hope Connection weekend camps are held once every 4-6 weeks during the remainder of the year. The weekend camp activities are similar to the summer activities, although there is a greater emphasis on parent training and education. The purpose of the weekend camps is to maintain the summer gains by (a) reinstating the campers' summer training, and (b) continuing to help parents develop successful strategies for their adopted children.

Application & Admission

Interested families should contact the Developmental Research Laboratory at 817-257-5912 for specific application requirements. Families will be asked to complete several assessments prior to the summer camp, and parents will be expected to be active participants in the project. Parents will also be expected to pay a fee to help support the costs of the Hope Connection.

Camp Staff

The Hope Connection camps are staffed by TCU undergraduate and graduate students, TCU faculty and staff, and selected off-campus professionals. We are proud to be associated with the following on- and off-campus organizations:

Miller Speech and Hearing Clinic (817-257-7620)
New Venture Counseling Center (817-590-9539)
Partners in Therapy (817-292-8276)
Right Track Horsemanship Academy (817-596-9995)
Starpoint School (817-257-7141)

The Adoption Project

The Hope Connection is part of The Adoption Project, an interdisciplinary research project centered at TCU, but involving academics and professionals from a wide variety of disciplines, professions, and academic institutions. The goal of The Adoption Project is to serve families who have made special needs adoptions through research, service, training, and advocacy. You can learn more about The Adoption Project by visiting our website (www.drl.tcu.edu).