August 21 (Day 174) One Heartland

In 1991, Neil Willenson, a native of Mequon, Wisconsin, was 20 years old and a senior at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. He was majoring in TV/Film and, upon graduation, had plans to seek a career as a feature film producer in Hollywood. All that changed, however, when Neil read the headline in his hometown newspaper: "AIDS hysteria in Mequon." A young boy with AIDS named Nile Sandeen was entering kindergarten in the small town of Mequon, and the community was up in arms. Fear and prejudice filled the air. At the center of all this controversy was a five-year-old boy who only wanted to go to school, who only wanted a chance to make friends.

  

A Simple Act of Kindess:

When Neil read this story in his hometown paper, he knew he had to get involved. For the next two years, Neil got to know Nile. He got to know Nile's brother, Sean, and his mother, Dawn Wolff; an entire family affected by AIDS in the center of America's heartland. Neil compared his own life-history in Mequon to Nile's. On the sidewalks, streets and in the schools of Mequon, where Neil had found joy and friendship, Nile had found only isolation and despair. Fear, ignorance and prejudice had turned what had been a heartland for Neil Willenson into a wasteland for Nile Sandeen.

In 1993, Nile turned seven years old. Like millions of other children, more than anything, he wanted to go to summer camp. He wanted to run; to play in the sun with kids his own age. He wanted to sit around a campfire at the end of a day filled with fun activities and sing silly summer camp songs in the dancing firelight - to eat breakfast in a dining hall ringing with joy and activity.

A Life-Changing Mission:

And so in 1993, inspired by Nile Sandeen, Neil Willenson founded Camp Heartland - a summer camp program that accepted both children infected with AIDS and children who were affected by the disease. The camp was equipped with state-of-the-art medical facilities able to handle the special needs of immuno-compromised campers. It was a summer camping program where children living with HIV/AIDS could step out of the shadows of secrecy into the light of openness and honesty - a place where they could have the best week of their lives.

During that first summer, 73 children with AIDS were welcomed to Camp Heartland at a rented campsite in Wisconsin with funds raised by Neil Willenson and a few dozen college students. After five years of renting campsites around the country, Camp Heartland in 1997 purchased its own, permanent home: The Camp Heartland Center in Willow River, Minnesota.

Set amidst 88 wooded acres in Northern Minnesota, with access to three lakes and miles of wilderness trails, the Camp Heartland Center is an extraordinary haven. It is a light in the darkness for children who live every day of their lives in a thickly shadowed world of chronic illness and discrimination.

Making a Year-Round, Life-Long Impact:

What began as Neil's quest to give one little boy a week of friendship and summertime fun, has now become a year-round community making a life-long impact for hundreds of children and their families. Year-round programs such as camp reunions, newsletters and holiday mailings, youth retreats and life enhancement programs reinforce young people's sense of belonging and well-being on an ongoing basis. As we look to the future, we're confident that with your help, the number of lives we can touch will be countless.

One Heartland Quick Facts:

• In 1993, Camp Heartland was founded by then 22-year-old Neil Willenson of Wisconsin
• Camp Heartland is the largest camping and care program for children who experience HIV/AIDS. Over 75 percent of Camp Heartland's participants live in poverty.
• Camp Heartland is a national program that welcomes children from 40 different states
• As most of the children cannot afford tuition, through the generosity of thousands of individuals, corporations and foundations, Camp Heartland's programs and services are provided free of charge to all participants
• One Heartland operates camps in California, New York and Minnesota and has begun an international expansion.
• Since 1994, One Heartland's Journey of Hope AIDS Awareness Program has traveled throughout the United States on a mission of increasing HIV awareness, prevention, education and testing. The speakers on the tour are children affected by HIV, poverty and other challenges.
• One Heartland annually serves thousands of suffering and at-risk children in the United States including those who experience poverty, HIV/AIDS, grief, foster care, Tourette's Syndrome, and other obstacles.

 
Get Involved:

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One Heartland's Wish List.

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Source: One Heartland