New Location Announced for Camp New Hope, Georgia's First Camp for Children Affected with Sickle Cell

By Jeanette Nu'Man

Coordinator, Camp New Hope

Operations Manager, Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia

Remarks (Abridged) Given at Annual Sickle Cell Symposium

Morehouse School of Medicine

Atlanta, Georgia

March 3, 2018

Camp New Hope was founded by the Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia ("SCFG") over 40 years ago for children and adolescents with sickle cell disease to provide them with opportunities to interact with children who share the same challenges and who understand those challenges. The camp has afforded them the experience to not be the only child with sickle cell disease in the class, school, neighborhood, family; to just be children and not “the kid with sickle cell.” SCFG provides services to the campers and their families 365 day a year, not just one week during the summer or just one point in time.

Standing before you are campers, former campers, and counselors. Kadeem served as a camp counselor and started volunteering with SCFG when he was 18. He is now a full time employee, camp coordinator and trained counselor educator. Tayo is a former counselor and now runs a family business. She is the lead counselor for females; works on the camp planning committee; and plans services and activities for youth. Blaze is a counselor and trained as a medical assistant. After completing his studies, he learned that he could not work in that position because it required standing for long periods of time and aspects of his disease make that impossible. He is currently the camp administrator/registrar and being trained as an administrative assistant. Kobi is a former camper and is in her second year of college. She used the SCFG's Community Health Worker ("CHW") program for support as she transitioned from pediatric to adult care. Kobi is a sickle cell disease advocate who tells her story and talks to legislators. She will return as a counselor.  Valerie is a former camper and still in high school. She gets support from our CHW, Natasha, as she prepares to leave pediatric care and enter the adult care system. Valerie is an active participant in youth activities sponsored by SCFG. Ms. Arlene and Ms. Coretta are counselors and work on the camp planning team. Ms. Paula is a former counselor. This is Camp New Hope, it’s more than one week in the summer.

Our camp has its detractors. There are those who tell us that we shouldn’t use counselors who are living with sickle cell, but we strongly disagree.


Camp New Hope was founded on the premise of having counselors living with sickle cell disease, not only do they live  what is experienced by the campers, their examples give the campers hope – something to look forward to. Sienna can see herself becoming a Kobi; Valerie can see herself becoming a Tayo; the young man running around this room can see himself becoming a Kadeem or a Blaze. We will use individuals with sickle cell disease as counselors – that is part of what Camp New Hope is about (the name of the camp was coined by a camper who indicated that the counselors with sickle cell disease gave him hope).

Our children need and deserve more than just a week in the summer. We encourage parents with children living to sickle cell to enroll their children in Camp New Hope, and we need everyone to help spread the word that the REAL Camp New Hope - the original (and still the only) camp run by people who have spent over forty years supporting families affected by this dreaded disease - will be at a new location this year. Our camp will continue so for the benefit of young people like Xavier, who reports that Camp New Hope was his only source of positive male role models when he was growing up. He wants to volunteer when he’s old enough so that he can reach back and help those behind him like he was helped. That’s Camp New Hope.