Carl was a rather successful entrepreneur and philanthropist. One year he decided he would operate a camp for special needs children to relieve their parents for a few weeks over the year. Outsiders chided Carl for using public budgetary funds to help sustain his own philanthropic ventures, though numerous others shrugged off the use of funds for private gain. He brushed off the comments and thought to himself "I'm doing something good, and good doesn't come free."
The vision he had seen placed multiple children together, both with and without special needs, to create a necessary socialization and ultimately help shift the surrounding culture. He envisioned the beach, the coast line, baseball, soccer and other activities in which the camp participants could experience other special needs lives, but also socialize with their "normal" peers. He believed the socialization structure would not only help children with disabilities, but also improve the outlook and mitigate the teasing from their peers. The philanthropist thought "if you could place two people with vastly different experiences together, they would begin to understand one another."
Funding was sought for the project, but largely failed as there was no true "business opportunities" therein. No advertising, no selling products directly to parents, no hooking kids on utilities. The camp was not envisioned to indoctrinate the youths, rather to provide true experiences with one another. The failed business methodology melted the funding opportunities faster than climate change and icebergs in the Arctic.
The expectations of Carl were rather unseemly such that he met with parents for weeks to learn all of the "ins and outs" of the children for which he would ultimately be held responsible. He learned that Sam had a peanut allergy while Arlyn constantly rocked because of over stimulation. Melinda, which her parents called "Mel" in short, was non-verbal but able-bodied in just about every other way. Kenneth had epilepsy and couldn't watch movies with rapidly changing contrasts, though each had medication to mitigate concerns.
Jean was a teen who had spent her life in various types of wheelchairs, of which some resembled straight jackets to Carl. Her motor control lacked and required appropriate restraints at all times, which included the night. She also had trouble speaking, though practiced individuals could understand her. Jean, Carl thought, would be a very difficult camper as she required twenty-four hour care to ensure she didn't hurt herself or others.
The first week's participants had been lined up and cleared with parents. Volunteer counselors with ages roughly the same as the campers had been contacted and secured. The appropriate insurance forms had been signed and dated and the camp was ready to operate. The final step was to ensure the cook, nurse, and other staff help would be available as they had promised.
Carl had met some of the camp's staff through his friend which had been a participant in a similar camp in years prior. The staff were no stranger to the setup and operation of such volunteer-based peer counseling for each of the campers. The cook and nurse, however, had not been interviewed yet.
Carl had heard of some amazing camps operated which had volunteered their time and taking in just enough money to ensure the children (and volunteers) were all fed, housed, and nursed for insurance reasons throughout the duration. He contacted one which had previously gone "belly up" because of state budget reductions and asked if he could have the number of their previous cook and nurse. While he did not get the number, the owners of the camp took his number and promised to give the cook and nurse a call and relay Carl's number if each was interested. Carl assured them everything was on the "up and up" and anxiously awaited for calls.
A few days later the cook called Carl in response to his inquiry with her previous camp. She said she was interested and wondered how the camp operated. He informed her it was a peer-based operation using volunteer high school students as counselors such that the high schoolers would both get credit for volunteerism for a noble cause and be exposed to individuals with disabilities about their own age. The campers received socialization by peers at about their same age. It was initially designed to provide both with an experience of socialization, and in some ways provided a "role reversal."
The cook mentioned her interest and asked about the number of people required to serve and the duration of the camp. Carl informed her it would be roughly six weeks and she would be paid for her services. The woman on the other side offered her services on a volunteer basis for the duration of the summer, provided she was satisfied with the camp's operation in person. In the event she was unsatisfied, the camp would be forced to pay.
After a week without receiving a call from the previous nurse, Carl discovered the camp he had contacted never notified their nurse of his call. Initially, Carl was perturbed, but he later found out the nurse had not been optimal for the previous camp, and for legal reasons they declined to state the nurse's short comings. (However, they chose to not contact the nurse because they feared liability if the new camp hired a "known dumbass.") Carl searched for a new nurse while just two weeks remained before the first camper arrived.
Carl placed an advertisement in the local circulation for local registered nurses which would have been willing to take a couple weeks off for a camp for children with disabilities, which included pay. Three nurses responded, which was coincidental given the close timeline. Each noted they had two weeks vacation coming up and sought to work during that time. He lined up each nurse with a two week allotment after discovery of any time constraints due to events within the nurses' personal lives.
The volunteers and staffers all met the Sunday prior to the initiation, as the rules and codes of conduct were explained for campers and counselors. Carl and the cook met at the meeting and immediately had things to talk about. He had been the least senior or "new guy" volunteer chaperon the year before. Though Sheila was technically given a "meal preparation" title, she also attended the volunteer meeting and understood, interacted, helped the kids, and vice versa. The kids helped with dishes and simple tasks during meal preparation. She was the de-facto "new guy."
Sheila used the first week to get acquainted with everyone at the camp and learned a bit about their respective personalities. The second week was spent on the nuances of each's role within the camp, like the serious owner, the sexually charged nurse, the often crass senior volunteer and soft-spoken Carl. The third week Sheila developed a repertoire as the only female in a rather brutish camp run almost exclusively by males.
