How Drew Hamilton’s Summer Camp Helps Youth Build Life Skills

July 2025

 

For many families in New York City, enrolling their kids in a summer camp simply isn’t an option: they can cost as much as $500 per week. But The Children’s Village offers an enriching opportunity to bring free summer camp to lower-income youth who would otherwise miss out on these experiences. At the Drew Hamilton Community Center’s (DHCC) camp, CV youth ages 5 to 12 spend eight transformative weeks each summer learning to swim, bake, web code, and more. This commitment to accessible programming reflects DHCC’s history as a cornerstone of support for Harlem families, providing year-round services from early childhood through teens.

Three days a week, campers make the 45-minute journey from Harlem to our main campus in Dobbs Ferry, where sprawling green spaces, a kitchen, a full-size pool, and state-of-the-art computer labs await them. This welcoming, spacious environment becomes the backdrop for experiences that go far beyond friendship-building – where campers develop essential life skills they’ll carry with them long after summer ends.

Take swimming – it’s more than just summer fun. It’s a critical safety skill, especially in a city where 25% of youth can’t swim. At Drew Hamilton’s camp, water safety takes priority through structured, supportive instruction designed to build both confidence and competence. Working in small groups, campers master basic water safety skills such as treading water and floating, often forming lasting friendships along the way.

“Last summer, four incoming kindergarteners who could barely float became inseparable friends while mastering essential water safety skills,” said Richard Lascelles, Program Director for DHCC. “They progressed together from learning to tread water and float on their backs to confidently swimming the breaststroke and freestyle.”

It’s a similar story in the kitchen. In the camp’s popular cooking program, kids develop creativity while mastering practical educational concepts that might surprise them. When campers bake brownies, they incorporate measurement and simple fractions by following the recipe, and they learn about chemical reactions like melting through the baking process. What’s more, the brownie baking is many campers’ first experience making something on their own in the kitchen.

“The kitchen is always buzzing with excitement as youth learn essential culinary skills—cracking eggs properly, combining wet and dry ingredients, and converting measurements between US and metric units,” Richard explains. “What’s remarkable is watching older campers pass on these techniques to younger youth with patience and pride. Food doesn’t just bring everyone together; it gives them practical skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives.”

The technology program also gives campers new experiences and teaches them applicable skills. Many DHCC campers don’t have gaming systems or computers at home, making the camp’s coding program and VR experiences true game-changers that level the playing field. These activities give campers hands-on experience with technology that’s essential for academic and career success in our digital world.

Beyond technology skills, camp counselor Emily Trinidad leads hands-on STEM activities like creating lava lamps and slime, sessions that introduce scientific concepts through play and foster intellectual curiosity that serves campers well in school and beyond.

“This summer, I’m introducing a new challenge: building bridges with popsicle sticks,” Emily shares. “Kids will learn engineering concepts like load distribution and geometry through trial and error — and they won’t even realize they’re learning.”

For many campers without regular access to high-quality pools, robust kitchen facilities, and cutting-edge technology labs, these experiences are new. And though it’s often their first time in these spaces, it’s usually not the last – Drew Hamilton’s camp has an impressive 80% retention rate.

This summer, we’re excited to welcome all campers, familiar faces and new arrivals, to Drew Hamilton. Learn more about Drew Hamilton Community Center’s year-round programming at childrensvillage.org/our-programs/community-programs/drewhamilton.