Welcome to our vision and mission, for an intellectually disabled adults and children camp. This is near and dear to my heart.

I would like to share our story to give you an outlook on who we are and what we would like to accomplish.

I moved up to Maine from Florida. I came up here one summer to run a restaurant for a friend. I ended up buying it from her and moving up to Maine permanently. The state of Maine made me fall in love with life all over again.

My son Tyler was diagnosed at the age of three years old with brain cancer. This has been a long journey for my son. The cancer radiation treatment and chemotherapy caused tremendous damage to his body.

Tyler fought hard and endured much pain, discomfort, and lots of surgeries for a person so young. Tyler had been cancer-free for 16 years and then was diagnosed with inoperable Renal Carcinoma in 2021. He had already lost one kidney previously and now this hit him. With Covid and Tyler’s new diagnosis, I was forced to make a huge decision and close my restaurant and make sure Tyler lives an amazing life. He loves adventures and that became my purpose for him.

However, I felt the need to make a difference not just in Tyler’s life but also in others. The path he walked during his healing years has led us to meeting so many amazing people, and the impact they had on not just my life but others as well.

Before Tyler was diagnosed with secondary cancer, I had a vision of opening a special needs home. I wanted to make sure that after I left this world Tyler would be well taken care of. One thing I noticed after moving to Maine was everyone went “up to camp” for the summer, and my vision changed. So, now after eight years working on our mission, we are ready to move forward.

We have finally received our certificate from the Secretary of State of Maine and our EIN #. We are looking to purchase about 200 acres in Central Southern Maine.

The Tyler Camp will be for disabled intellectuals. We want it to be family orientated, educational, and have life-learning skills with a flare of friendship while playing and having fun together in the summer season. Our goal is to make life as fun as possible and to let them know there are others that have challenges like them. We want to give everyone an opportunity to try new things and have new adventures with others. Everything will be possible here at Tyler’s Camp.

Our vision is to have a lake or big pond where the families would be able to go out on a pontoon ride, swim, canoe, paddle boat, and boogie board. We’ll offer water aerobics, nature walking on trails, birdwatching, campfires, Karaoke, sing-a-longs, arts and crafts, painting, and have an outdoor movie screen with seating or blankets available for watching and much more.

Our biggest goal is to have cabins on the camp so families and caregivers can stay together during their week at camp.

We have friends that are in the entertainment business all over the U.S. that want to be a part of Tyler’s Camp. These include bands, magicians, hypnotists, clowns, and petting zoos. We have been contacted already with a request to let these organizations know when we are ready to call.

We want to have a large pavilion for the entertainment and different shows on rainy days so we can keep the fun going. We want this to be an adventure, so they are eager to keep coming back year after year not forgetting the people they have met and the experiences they had.

Safety is a huge factor. Our counselors will be CPR/First Aid certified. AEDs will also be located throughout the camp. We hope to have a location at the camp for a Helipad for emergencies and to make sure there would be enough room for Life-Flight to land on the campgrounds.

The philosophy of Tyler’s Camp, regardless of the family’s financial situation, is to make sure this is affordable for all.

I understand what it takes to be a director and the responsibilities. Having a special needs son, I have lived it and breathed it, and I understand the need. Currently, I am working on selecting a board and writing the bylaws.

I am reaching out to you now. There is a huge need for sponsorship, volunteers and donations. We have a plan ready, and we have a goal of $2 million to start with.

Thank you for your time. If you need any more information, feel free to reach out anytime.

Sincerely,
Karen Novak