Project Hope

United Neighborhood Centers’ Project Hope Summer Camp has served the needs of low-income children from Scranton and Lackawanna County during the out-of-school months at Camp St. Andrew in Tunkhannock, PA for the past 40 years. Each day, children are transported to the campsite on buses picking up children at various locations throughout the County. Over 350 of the total number of children participants are low-income residents of the City of Scranton.

Project Hope Summer Day Camp is a unique summer experience for at-risk children living in poverty. With the lack of urban recreation programs today, Project Hope offers an alternative to the hot city streets and area housing projects. On a 500+ acre country setting, in a structured wholesome environment, children learn to swim, boat, canoe, fish, camp, and participate in daily recreational activities such as archery, volleyball, baseball, and basketball. In addition, children test out their interest level in dance, music, arts and crafts, dramatics and environmental studies with their own peer group in a pressure-free, non-competitive atmosphere.

Project Hope also utilizes an Outdoor Adventure Learning Course for older campers to build self-esteem, communication and team building skills. Features such as rock climbing walls, zip lines and group challenges provide students with a chance to learn and continue building skills in a fun atmosphere that they would typically not have access to.

The most important aspect of this program is the incidental-learning program supplied by the Scranton School District. For the child who needs to improve on a particular subject, UNC’s unique partnership with the Scranton City School District enables certified district teachers to help children with the subjects of reading, spelling, math, writing and science. These classes do not take the place of summer school; yet provide an opportunity for children who are at risk of falling behind during the summer months to maintain their grade level.

Project Hope also ensures that the nutritional health of these children is addressed. In partnership with the PA Department of Education Summer Feeding Program, the children are served a morning breakfast, a hot, well-balanced mid-day meal and a nutritious snack before the return home. In the worst cases, some of the children may not regularly eat at home, and rely on this program for balanced meals.

Recently, UNC’s Leaders in Training program, a year-long leadership and mentorship program, began utilizing the Project Hope setting as part of their curriculum, giving older youth the opportunity to take part in summer-time recreational activities, keeping them off the streets during their time out of school. This offshoot component of Project Hope is just one more way the camp seeks to provide rural outdoor opportunities for otherwise urban dwelling children in the Scranton community.

Although the Project Hope setting serves the needs of the Leaders in Training program, the target population for this project are youth ages 5-12 currently living within the City of Scranton’s lowest income Census Tract, the surrounding Scranton neighborhoods, and socially and economically isolated families.