Brookhaven Daily Leader
Camp Kamassa host first group of guests, makes progress
By Hunter Cloud
CRYSTAL SPRINGS — Six years after Camp Kamassa first broke ground, the camp for people with special needs and disabilities was able to hold its first camp. Radically Against Dystrophy, a summer camp for children with mobility impairments, were the first guests of Camp Kamassa this summer.
Around 90 children are already able to utilize the pool and the cabins at Camp Kamassa during the five week camp. Tanya Mohawk, Director of Development for Camp Kamassa, said the Mississippi Toughest Kids Foundation held its annual swim party at Camp Kamassa for the first time. Aquatech was the contractor responsible for the pool.
“We have a ramp going down into the pool. It is a 0 entry ramp where we can put a camper on a wheelchair and they can float up in the water,” Mohawk said. “We had a camp for kids with muscular dystrophy. When they got in the water they could walk. This was also the first time all of the campers were able to get in the pool at the same time.”
The deep end of the pool is five feet deep and features a tanning shelf for anyone who wants to enjoy the water but not swim. A splash pad will hopefully be added to the swimming pool area, Mohawk added.
Sidewalks connect each constructed building at Camp Kamassa. The hope is campers can use their wheelchair to get from their cabin to anywhere on the campground without leaving the sidewalk. Camp Kamassa meant a good deal to the Radically Against Dystrophy group.
“It was life changing for them. It was the best group we could have had here,” Mohawk said. “Their expectations were not high. We wanted them to have a good experience. They slept in the cabins and got to use the pool. It was enough.”
Work in progress
The camp is not completely finished but it is well on its way to completion. Mohawk gave The Daily Leader a tour of the work in June 2023 and a tour Thursday. Considerable progress has been made as the pieces continue to come together at the 426 acre facility.
Financially, the camp is $20 million into the project and needs $10 million to finish everything it has planned.
Mohawk said it is amazing to her to think about how Mary Kitchens, the founder of Mississippi Toughest Kids Foundation, started the project by selling $15 cookbooks. Now the project has received two years of funding from the Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund to help push the camp closer to the finish line.
“It is a relief yet we realize we have a ways to go,” Mohawk said. “There is tremendous comfort knowing after decades of work we are fulfilling our mission. We are almost there.’
Year 1 funding from the Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund went to recreation and fishing opportunities at Camp Kamassa. A floating fishing pier, canoe and kayak launch was built on the camp’s pond. Mohawk said fraternity brothers from Delta Kappa Epsilon at Ole Miss came out to initially work on the floating dock.
The young men worked hard for a day but the floats did not fit the dock and had to be changed out. Mohawk said the military servicemen, who work on construction projects at the camp each year, were able to complete the project.
Work is underway to develop a nature area where campers can view wildlife, stargaze and have primitive camping. Mohawk said the area could also be used as an equestrian center. The second year of Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund funding would go towards the nature area project and a recreation field.
Mohawk said they hope to add a rope course with a treehouse and ziplines. Southwest Electric will donate poles for the project and local lumber businesses Lincoln Lumber and Yellawood in Brookhaven plan to help with the project, she added.
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith introduced a senate bill to help Camp Kamassa get funding to cover the camp’s sidewalks. Right now, they are out in the open with little shade.
Construction crews were busy Thursday morning working on the camp’s cafeteria and infirmary. The cafeteria should be able to sit and feed 240 people at one time. Mohawk said the infirmary will have staff housing for doctors and nurses, two treatment rooms, sick bay camper rooms, a nurses station, open treatment area, dialysis and physical therapy. Workers were busy hanging sheetrock and pouring cement. CN Railroad bought the naming rights to the breezeway between the cafeteria and infirmary, Mohawk said.
Once the recreation field is complete, Mohawk said they hope to add an amphitheater area between the activity building and recreation field. The camp plans to build an admin building by the cabins as well to serve as a camp store and check in. She said the building is priced at $2.1 million and fortunately Rep. Bennie Thompson secured the camp $1 million in funding for the admin building. Near the entrance of the camp, a chapel is nearing completion. Mohawk said the chapel is not tied to any specific denomination. She explained the camp can be emotional for the campers, counselors and volunteers. The chapel offers a place for people to find calm, retreat and withdrawal.
Coming together
Camp Kamassa’s activity building has made the most progress since The Daily Leader’s last visit to Camp Kamassa. The building is nearing completion with plans for a rock wall and a ramp for wheelchair bound campers to experience rock climbing.
Mohawk said they are working on a teaching kitchen for the students. One of the rooms will be designated as a dress up room where campers can put on costumes and look like Hollywood actors waiting backstage.
The left wing of the activities building will be a big room where campers can dance, have fun and watch movies. Mohawk said the bathroom on the left wing was almost complete the day before the Radically Against Dystrophy campers visited.
“The bathrooms were finished in the dead of night and we don’t know who did it,” Mohawk said. “Someone finished the bathrooms enough for campers to use them.”
Rooms in the activity center are named after various people. The music room is named in memory of Edith Kitchens. Woodmen of the World bought the naming rights for the woodworking room. Mohawk said campers could build bird houses and other wood projects there.
The library is named the Lake Little Library. Little was an 18 year old pilot from Starkville who died in a plane crash on July 6, 2019. Her family in Crystal Springs raised money for the naming rights to the library.
Mohawk said an activity room is named after James Hastings Kendall. Anna Thames, a field representative for Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and a Brookhaven resident wanted to honor her baby brother who had special needs and died. Mohawk explained Thames and her brother surprised her parents with the room.
Camp Kamassa built a Ceramics Room which will have space for molds, storage and a kiln room. Servicemen helped lay the brick for the kiln room. A huge arts and crafts room is the final space on the right wing of the activity center.
Mohawk said the space will be named in honor of the Theresa Russo Foundation based in New York City who gave to the camp.
“It is a miracle. Mary Kitchens had this amazing dream and thousands of people have helped in some shape or form,” Mohawk said. “Businesses have donated materials, people have donated work and the military saved us millions in construction costs. The state has been good to us too. It is a conglomeration of so many sources of funding.”
Anyone interested in giving money or their time can visit campkamassa.com/support to learn more.