Hi Johnny,
I know where you are coming from. My suggestion is that you offer one week out of the summer for all scholarship youth. Now, I'm guessing the United Way wants to give them the camp experience, but they also want them to socialize with kids from other backgrounds. And so the scholarship kids are spread throughout the summer.
In my experience kids want to be with other kids that they have things in common with. Kids who are from lower income families don't want to be at camp with kids who don't have the same worries and experiences. In other words they don't want to be at camp with, what they might refer to, a bunch of rich kids (even though they may be only middle class).
When I went to camp as a kid I went through this. I grew up poor and went to resident camp on the donation of an anonymous person. I couldn't relate to the other kids who had TVs in their rooms, the latest game system, went to Hawaii for vacation, etc. I hated camp and was jealous of these kids. I wanted to break their stuff or steal it. After all, I felt they could afford another one of whatever I broke or took. Fortunately, my mother raised me better than that and I just suffered through their insults and arrogance. By the way, the counselor had no sympathy for me and just told me to suck it up.
I would have loved to go to camp with kids that I could feel comfortable with, kids that were poor. The camp itself was cool and had a lot of neat things to offer. I just couldn't enjoy myself. Needless to say, I never wanted to go to camp again...and I didn't.
In our efforts to help underprivileged youth and families we rarely stop to think about what the child wants, or needs. Of course, many of us differ on our thoughts about what inner city kids need.
The other suggestion I would have is to suggest to the United Way that they find a more suitable camp. Let them know that you are not equipped to handle the behavioral issues that come with a large number of kids who do not want to be there. Parents who pay for your camp will start looking elsewhere if they feel that their kids are not safe or are being influenced by challenging behavior. If this happens, your camp may not be able to financially survive down the road. Then nobody gets to experience the awesome experience your camp can offer.
If these suggestion don't work for your situation then I agree with Alex, hire a specialist, someone who may have had the same kind of childhood experiences these kids are going through. Then put together a few like-minded counselors to create a team that will handle all the scholarship youth that come to your camp.
I hope some of this helps. Good luck.
