Local man runs camp for special needs, underprivileged kids in Conejo

JUST DO IT—Fifth-grader Nadav Harari learns to ride the waves at Learning Through Doing Adventures. The camp offers special needs and underprivileged children the opportunity to experience the outdoors through a variety of physical activities. For many kids, summer camp is a rite of passage. A typical summer camp may include horseback riding, canoeing, hiking, beach trips and other outdoor activities.

But summer camp for children with disabilities or who are underprivileged is often unattainable.

Jonathan Dunker of Agoura Hills has changed the odds.

The founder and president of Learning Through Doing Adventures, Dunker has provided outdoor camp experiences in the Santa Monica Mountains and on the coast to more than 600 children with special needs or whose parents can't afford the cost.

The summer programs include environmental education, beach ecology, surfing and tide pool programs, Dunker said. Participants have included homeless children staying at shelters in downtown Los Angeles, "at risk" kids from Ventura and Los Angeles counties, inner city youth, those with special needs and other children facing challenges in their lives.

More than 100 students attended the camp this summer; some participated in the sixweek program, while others came out for two-day outreach events.

Dunker partners with other community service groups in order to reach out to children in need. Homeless children participated in a Fourth of July program this year.

Yannoula Kusulas, operations coordinator for School on Wheels, a group that travels to homeless shelters to tutor children and also helps students at its Los Angelesbased learning center, said the children in her program enjoyed the summer event.

"The children's expressions while they were fully engaged in the pool and Slip 'n Slide said it all," said Kusulas. "It is not too often that the kids get opportunities like this."

"I loved it," said Nadav Harari, a fifth-grade student at Las Virgenes Community Learning Center. "I learned to surf, we went on field trips and I learned a lot of things."

The camp runs year-round with multiple programs, Dunker said.

Left out

Dunker knows what it feels like to be left out of activities. Diagnosed as an adult with attention deficit disorder, he said he "struggled miserably in school and acted out" as a child. Because of his early experiences, he said, he knew early on that he wanted to help children with disabilities, regardless of whether their challenges were medical or economic.

With the help and understanding of his mother, Dunker developed coping skills and a support network. He completed college with a degree in sociology and anthropology with an emphasis in criminal justice. He also minored in Spanish.

Dunker spent three years as a docent, a naturalist and an outdoor educator. By 2003, he had launched his own business.

Dunker said the idea for the camp was envisioned as an after-school program so children with special needs could interact with "typically developing peers." The quarterly programs included a variety of clubs for such activities as homework, card collecting and rock climbing.

"Eventually the camp grew through word of mouth and included summer camps," Dunker said.

By 2006, Dunker wanted to reach a greater population of children. He transformed his small business into a nonprofit, making it possible to apply for state and federal grants.

"I have been an entrepreneur, educational therapist, special education teacher and advocate, and, most importantly, a father (of) two sons—Colin, 3, and Quinn, 5."

No one denied

As a nonprofit, Dunker's organization can secure grants to defray costs. More than 80 percent of the camp's participants are on 100 percent scholarship, Dunker said. Fewer than 10 percent pay the full tuition of $350 per week, and the remaining families pay tuition on a sliding scale.

"No one (is) denied enrollment for nonpayment," Dunker said. "Throughout the school year, events are 100 percent free for participants."

The majority of funding to run the camp has come from private donors, Dunker said. He hopes to establish consistent government funding to provide more programs for Title I schools, which have a certain percentage of their students living below the poverty level.

All children are welcome at Dunker's camp. "We hire staff according to the participants' needs," he said.

"For example, we hired a staff member with training in sign language to accommodate a deaf child this year," Dunker said. In the past, the camp has accommodated blind children and those in wheelchairs and with other disabilities.

Upcoming event Children from School on Wheels will spend an afternoon at Leo Carrillo State Beach on Sun., Oct. 5. Activities will include environmental games, a nature hike, swimming, bodyboarding and surfing, Dunker said.

He said his visit with the School on Wheels center earlier in the month was a "huge eyeopener to the perils of life on the street and daily struggles faced by many children and families in our city." Dunker said he saw drug dealing and impoverished families living on the street.

Dunker said that Learning Through Doing Adventures strives to help School on Wheels provide a safe haven that "is a tremendous start to social change through education and empowerment."

Dunker said he is also developing a sports program for School on Wheels. "Our aim is to develop an athletic program that reaches these kids after homework time," he said.

For more details, visit www. learningthroughdoingadventures. org.