In March, we hosted our second annual Sunday Funday and it was an incredible event all around! Together with our friends from Camp Tawonga, over 30 families (100+ participants) from across the Bay Area enjoyed accessible camp activities like tie dye, archery, s’mores, sensory bins, music, and arts and crafts. Plus no camp day is complete without some “challenge by choice” from our epic Adventure Mountain. Our Alpine Climbing tower is constructed to allow participants of all abilities to navigate various climbing routes and many of our Sunday Funday participants made it all the way to the top! Plus, archery on the upper field really hit the bullseye!
One participant, Eileen Boussina shared that Sunday Funday has been come an annual tradition for her family:
Camp Newman does a wonderful job of creating a meaningful day filled with camp-type activities that are sensory-friendly and accessible. Building connections with other parents, siblings and caregivers is something very few in our community do well! The staff are so skilled, patient, warm and inclusive!
– Eileen Boussina
The year we also engaged ASL interpreters to support Deaf participants and welcomed Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe who facilitated a space for parents and caregivers of children and adults with disabilities, to gather, share and gain a sense of support and community. According to one attendee:
The ASL interpreters were very helpful. We could not have connected with our new friends in the same way without them!
– 2025 Participant
Reflecting on her family’s experience, Anna Kalman, mother of four, shared that the afternoon was an opportunity for their daughter to experience the magic of Camp Newman that her sons had been able to experience during the summers:
My three boys have been going to Camp Newman for years. It is their third Jewish home, after our house and our synagogue. Our daughter is autistic and will probably never be independent enough to spend time at an overnight summer camp, but on Sunday Funday she gets to experience camp and our boys get to share the place they love with us and their sister! It was also a great opportunity to connect with others in the Jewish special needs family community.
– Anna Kalman
The opportunity for families affiliated with both URJ Camp Newman and Camp Tawonga, as well as folks from the broader Jewish community, to gather together is unique in the Bay Area ecosystem. Shoshie Flagg, Assistant Director of Community Engagement at Camp Tawonga was in attendance with her family and echoed this sentiment:
Inclusive spaces like this are so important and we’re glad that we got to be part of it!
– Shoshie Flagg
At URJ Camp Newman, we work everyday to create spaces of belonging and we know that people don’t want to go where they are merely tolerated or an after-thought in planning; they want to go where they are included, where their needs are valued as an essential component of the experience.
When, after the fires, we were able to redesign and reimagine our physical space, accessibility was at the heart of each decision. Each experience we create – during the summer or our school-year retreats and events, like Sunday Funday – starts with the questions: “What do you [participants] need to feel a sense of belonging at camp and how can we best make that a reality?” Using a universal design framework, we aim to meet each person who enters our gates where they are and to see all behaviors as communication.
This is what it means to C.A.R.E. for each and every person b’tzelem elohim, in the image of God, 365 days a year at URJ Camp Newman. Learn more about our CARE Philosophy and our Nefesh (Camper Care) support program!