At the end of May, roughly 40 Amish and Mennonite volunteers organized by the Western Slope Mennonite Fellowship and the Amish-led Restore Our Community Colorado (ROCC) hauled lumber, shingles and nails up to the Aspen Camp of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ACDHH) to undertake repairs on nine roofs at the campus. In under 72 hours of teamwork, the volunteers finished up. Their help gets the camp a step closer in returning to its former glory.
It’s important to note that, despite recent setbacks, ACDHH continues to offer retreats, training camps and weekend events.
ACDHH is located high up in Old Snowmass and provides a refuge for campers to reconnect with nature. Founded in 1967, the camp has served over 25,000 campers. Both children and adults have been able to enjoy experiential education at the only year-round camp in the nation that supports the deaf, hard of hearing and sign language community.
However, in the past decade the camp suffered from a series of struggles which threatened to permanently close its doors. Between accruing debt, leadership turnover, a lawsuit from a former executive director, the pandemic and a water pipe burst that damaged the main lodge, the camp nearly entered a state of disrepair.
While a passionate new board of directors is leading the camp into the future after all of these calamities, much repair work needs to be done in order to return the campus to the point where it was before. That’s where the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) has been stepping in.
MDS organizes disaster relief services and repairs across the U.S. and Canada, typically repairing and rebuilding homes damaged by natural forces like tornadoes, flooding and fires.
MDS has performed other work at the camp in the past, such as trimming for fire mitigation and installing an ADA-accessible ramp. The roof repair, however, is the biggest operation to date.
Aaron “Beuford” Aeschliman, the assistant chair for the Region Three Rocky Mountain chapter of the MDS, as well as a Carbondale resident, helped coordinate this latest effort. According to Aeschliman, although the physical work was completed smoothly in a very short time, much of the project’s work came in the form of extensive preparation in the preceding months. In February, ROCC came to the camp for a site review after which the process of measuring and ordering materials began.
Notably, neither the ROCC nor MDS provides materials. Instead, the camp paid for the materials through grant funding and donations.
The bulk of the 38 volunteers arrived from Amish communities around Westcliffe at about 10am on Wednesday, May 29. By noon that Friday, the job was done. Men and women of all ages worked together from early in the mornings through the afternoons, after which the volunteers would gather around for dinner, volleyball and roasted marshmallows.
“The energy felt boundless,” said Aeschliman. “They immediately went to work as soon as they showed up … They found it very meaningful to be there helping out.”
Nine buildings total were reroofed, including several cabins, the main lodge and the health center. After being safely sealed off from the elements, the hope is that now the camp can confidently pursue improvements to the interiors of these buildings.
Looking forward, ACDHH still has a long list of repairs, amounting to over $500,000, in order to return to tip-top shape. The camp’s storage building was in such a dilapidated state that it was excluded from the roof repairs, and it instead is primed for demolition and a total rebuild. Another big-ticket item on the list is replacing the camp’s septic system, which is outside of MDS’ specialty.
The camp is still looking for support. Those looking to contribute can find more information at www.aspencamp.org/support