The Painted Turtle is the sixth addition to Paul Newman’s family of Hole in the Wall Camps for seriously ill children. It is also the only multi-disease camp and family care center of its kind on the West Coast. Through educational, therapeutic, safe, and just plain fun summer camp and year-round programs, The Painted Turtle provides a life-changing experience to children whose daily struggles often diminish both their desire to be well and their ability to lead a rich, productive life.

The Painted Turtle offers an exhilarating, challenging, and nurturing array of traditional summer camp recreational activities, seamlessly intertwined with programs that inspire children to become more self-confident and self-reliant, as well as more cooperative with their medical caregivers. There is a strong healing potential in the lessons children learn and the friendships they form at The Painted Turtle.

At first glance, Hole in the Wall Camps look like any other traditional summer camp. There are swimming, boating, fishing, horseback riding, arts and crafts, ropes courses, a state of the art gymnasium, and nature activities. Yet, look more closely and you will find that at The Painted Turtle, every child, no matter their illness or capacity, can participate fully in every single activity, because of the subtle, yet liberating, access components built right into the camp facilities themselves.

There is one adult to every two campers and nurses who join kids in their cabins and throughout their daily activities. The Painted Turtle is staffed by California’s top medical specialty professionals, who volunteer to live at the Camp throughout each session and who work closely with our full-time staff of nurses and doctor.

Paul Newman started the first camp in the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps in Ashford, Connecticut. Over the past several years, he expanded that vision by helping to establish camps in New York, Florida, North Carolina, Ireland, France, Africa, Israel, and here in California at The Painted Turtle. To date, these camps have served over 100,000 children from 34 states and 31 countries.

In 1999, Paul Newman and Page Adler founded The Painted Turtle. Of the more than one million children in California with chronic illnesses, our needs assessment revealed that there are over 17,500 who are unable to attend summer camp due to their medical needs. The Painted Turtle provides these children and their families with an empowering, renewing experience completely free of charge.

Since nearly 40% of our campers are from low income families, The Painted Turtle and our supporters give these children the gift of a lifetime, a gift of laughter, fun, and personal growth that they would otherwise not be able to experience. This gift has the potential to improve both the quality and quantity of our campers’ lives, because what makes them stronger, happier and healthier at The Painted Turtle, is exactly what they take with them into every challenge they face for the rest of their lives.