CoachArt Offers Free Virtual Summer Camps for Kids Impacted by Chronic Illness in Expanded Territory

CoachArt, a nonprofit organization that provides free arts and athletic coaching for chronically ill kids and their siblings, will offer free virtual summer camps for the first time this summer.

Children in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area who qualify for CoachArt’s services will be able to participate. Eligible children are between the ages of 5 and 18 and have a chronic, physical illness or condition that requires ongoing treatment, or are the healthy sibling of such a child. Chronic conditions include arthritis, cancer, cerebral palsy, diabetes, heart disease, HIV, kidney failure, spina bifida, craniofacial abnormalities, and various orthopedic disabilities, among others.

The five-day virtual summer camps will feature a different 1-hour activity each day, led by CoachArt staff. Camp activities will include painting, music, yoga, dance, and more. Campers will receive a complimentary “CoachArt Kit” complete with a camp backpack, a CoachArt t-shirt, and all materials for camp activities.

Like CoachArt’s other programs, the Virtual Summer Camps are designed to improve social and emotional well-being, and give kids with chronic illnesses an opportunity to stop seeing themselves as patients and start seeing themselves as artists, athletes, and musicians.

Virtual Summer Camp director Emily Coldiron has worked for CoachArt since 2015. She’s a Midwestern native with a passion for social justice and youth programming.

“Kids today are already experienced with engaging online, so our shift to virtual programming has fortunately been a smooth one,” Emily said. “This shift has also enabled us to finally achieve our longtime dream of bringing our programs to more of the families that can benefit from them.”

CoachArt’s Virtual Summer Camp is part of the organization’s pivot to virtual programming in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. CoachArt’s one-on-one and group lessons have traditionally taken place in person, but chronically ill children are particularly vulnerable during the pandemic, so the organization has suspended in-person programming until it’s safe to resume.

Since its founding in 2001, CoachArt has served families in California. The Virtual Summer Camp program is the first to be offered beyond California. CoachArt plans to eventually offer all its programs to families in the five “expansion cities” — Chicago, Dallas, Denver, New York City, Portland — and is seeking chapter ambassadors in those cities who are enthusiastic about CoachArt’s mission to create a transformative arts and athletics community for families impacted by childhood chronic illness, and who will spread the word and raise funds.

CoachArt Virtual Summer Camps are currently open for enrollment. Most of the camp sessions are already fully enrolled, but families in the five expansion cities still have the option to enroll in the camp session beginning August 10. For more information or to sign up, visit www.coachart.org/camps.

About CoachArt

Children living with chronic illness may feel isolated because of their condition. Frequent hospital visits and deficient immune systems often cause them to miss time in school and recreational activities. Families, overwhelmed by the cost and demands of ongoing medical care, often lack the resources to seek out or afford extracurricular activities. Healthy siblings are affected too when family resources are focused on a chronically ill child. CoachArt is a non-profit organization that supports these families by offering free recreational lessons that bring a sense of normalcy back into their lives.

Since 2001, CoachArt has matched volunteer coaches with students for one-on-one or group lessons in arts and athletics. Our vision is that one day every family impacted by chronic illness will be connected to a community of support and an opportunity to learn and grow together.