Who We Serve
Who We Serve
The Need For a Medical Specialty Camp
There are more than one million children in California with chronic and life-threatening illnesses. Our needs assessment revealed more than 17,500 of those children are unable to attend summer camp due to their medical conditions. That is, until The Painted Turtle came along!
The Painted Turtle has provided more than 225,000 camp experiences to children and their families — absolutely free of charge — since 2004.
Each year, we provide more than 3,000 on-site camp experiences to children with serious medical conditions and their family members. We welcome roughly 130 children to each of our 8 overnight, medical condition-specific Summer Sessions, up to 130 campers and family members to each of our 10 Family Weekends, and over 400 guests to both our annual Holiday Gathering and our Spring into Camp event.
Additionally, we serve 3,500 campers annually through our in-hospital program, The Painted Turtle Outpost. Outpost brings the camp experience into 22 hospital sites, medical centers, and clinics throughout California, as well as to community events.
Find a Session by Medical Condition
In order to be considered for Camp, each child must meet the below criteria and have one of the medical conditions listed below.
Requirements and Eligibility
- Age Requirements:
- Family Weekend: Between the ages of 6-17
- Summer Camp: Between the ages of 7-16
- Have a minimum developmental age of 5 years
- Be able to function and participate in a group setting
- Able to communicate needs independently
- Can be without family members for a limited period of time (overnight retreats and family weekends) or the duration of the camp session (summer camp)
Please be advised that no child is guaranteed to be accepted to camp. Applications are reviewed and acceptance is based upon health care needs, space, and staffing ratios..
Search for Medical Conditions by Program Type
Family Weekend
15 Q 24 Micro-deletion Syndrome
22q Deletion Syndrome
Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD)
Alport Syndrome
Angelman Syndrome
Apert Syndrome
Ataxia
Beal’s Syndrome
Cerebral Palsy
CHARGE Syndrome
Chronic Intestinal Pseudo Obstruction (CIPO)
Cleft Lip and/or palate
Common Variable Immunodeficiency
Craniofacial Differences
Craniosynostosis
Crohn’s Disease
Crouzon Syndrome
Cystic Fibrosis
Dialysis: Peritoneal
Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EOE)
Epilepsy
Fanconi Anemia
General Nephrology-decreased kidney function
Hemangiomas
Hemodialysis
Hereditary Angioedema
Hydrocephalus
Intractable Epilepsy
Kabuki Syndrome
Kidney Disease and Transplant
Limb Loss and Deficiency
Liver Disease-noncommunicable
Liver Transplant
MEPAN Syndrome
Microcephaly
Moebius Syndrome
Noonan Syndrome
Neuromuscular Diseases
Paraplegia
Pierre Robin Sequence
Phenylketonuria (PKU)
Primary Immunodeficiency
Pulmonary Hypertension
Rare Genetic Conditions
Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID)
Seizure Disorder
Short Gut Syndrome
Small Bowel Transplant
Smith Magenis Syndrome
Spina Bifida
Stickler Syndrome
Sturge Weber Syndrome
Thalassemia
TPN Dependent
Tube Feeding Dependent
Ulcerative Colitis
VACTERL
Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome
Weidemann-Steiner Syndrome
Weiss-Kruszka Syndrome
Summer Sessions – Camper Only
Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Aplastic Anemia
Charcot Marie Tooth Disease
Cystic Fibrosis
Diamond-Blackfan anemia
Factor Deficiency in Females
Friedreich’s Ataxia
Giant Axonal Neuropathy (GAN)
Hemophilia
Hemophilia with inhibitors
Hemophilia/von Willebrand Disease
Muscular Dystrophy
Myasthenic Syndromes
Myopathies
Myotonic Dystrophy
Rare Genetic Platelet Disorders
Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA)
Thalassemia
Search for Programs by Medical Condition
Campers
When campers come through the gates at The Painted Turtle, they enter a world where fun and laughter are part of the remedy. Upon their arrival, campers and their families are greeted by The Painted Turtle’s exceptional staff. Volunteers and staff are both experienced working with children and committed to the well-being and care of our campers.
Families
When a child comes to The Painted Turtle, it impacts the entire family. As the guardian of a child with a serious medical condition, we understand that you might be searching for more information about The Painted Turtle. We hope that you will use this section as a starting place for your exploration and research.