Every summer, Shawn Thorns, Director of Camp Wakonda, tells his counselors the story of one of his former campers, Brandon, who participated in HFH Summer Camps during Thorns’s first year as a General Counselor in 2005.

“He had behavioral issues,” Thorns said of Brandon, then eight-years-old. “They wanted to send him home, but I said no – I’ve got him.”

Thorns spent the two-week camp session taking special care to mentor Brandon, counseling him and taking him on walks through the campgrounds of Camp Kiwago, a former HFH Summer Camp, in Harriman State Park.

“Eventually he became acquainted with me,” said Thorns. “Eventually, he became comfortable with me.”

In fact, by the end of the camp session, Brandon had become so comfortable at Camp Kiwago that on the night before the last day of camp, he refused to return to his bunk. Thorns encountered Brandon sitting on a porch.

When Thorns told Brandon to go to bed, the young camper, reluctant, tried to him and said: “I don’t want to go to bed because that means I have to wake up and go home tomorrow.”

Instead of attempting to persuade or reprimand Brandon, Thorns sat next to him, and the two, on the porch, talked about their lives during the school-year. At the time, Thorns was a Texas-based college student, studying to be a choir teacher.

“We sat on the porch and he was like, ‘So what do you do back home?’ I told him that I’m a teacher and he said that he’d never seen a black male teacher before,” Thorns recalled. “I said, ‘Well, Brandon, you can be anything you want to be.'”

As a result of his first summer as a General Counselor at Camp Kiwago, Thorns changed his major from music to education, having found passion and purpose in integrating his leadership, youth development, and communications skills as a camp counselor.

A whole lot of me switching over came from me working at camps,” explained Thorns. Upon graduating, he began working as a Behavior Specialist for the Houston Independent School District.

During his summers, Thorns continued to work at sleep-away camps, returning to Camp Kiwago in 2006, where he again encountered Brandon, then 9-years-old, before spending the next eight summers at a sleep-away camp operated by another non-profit provider.

Thorns believes that his background as a Behavior Specialist helps him to foster a welcoming environment at sleep-away camps, where he is able to adapt, empathize, and connect with the entire camp community.

“The techniques and knowledge that I gained learning about different behaviors have definitely helped me to work with these kids in an effective way,” he said. “I know exactly how to approach a behavior and a situation, and I know how to navigate in between certain circumstances-and that’s with campers and staff.”

Thorns’s strengths as a Camp Director have not been lost on the many staff members who work together to facilitate HFH Summer Camps.

“Shawn is a breath of fresh air and he really cares about his staff,” said Annamarie Santoro, a colleague of Thorns. “He is super loving and caring when it comes to working with the children and he always has a smile on his face.”

Georgeann Ramos, another college of Thorns, also noted his individualized and personal approach to working with campers, as well as his professional development over the course of his time working at HFH Summer Camps, going from General Counselor at Camp Kiwago to Director of Camp Wakonda.

“Shawn has been a part of the HFH Summer Camps family for many years, working his way up the camps leadership ladder,” said Ramos.

“Despite the large number of campers and staff that Thorns meets and works with each summer, Ramos affirmed that, “He always knows everybody’s names.

Thorns has found the skills and experience he’s accumulated as a Behavior Specialist to be especially useful for navigating the often unique and complex circumstances campers may bring along with them to HFH Summer Camps – all campers at Camps Wakonda and Lanowa have experienced homelessness in New York City.

“I’ve never experienced being homeless and most of the staff have never experienced being homeless. The struggle is trying to understand where the behavior comes from,” Thorns explained. “We definitely meet them over half-way to understand where they come from.”

In the Summer of 2016, Thorns returned to HFH Summer Camps as a Unit Leader at Camp Wakonda. In subsequent summers, he rose to the positions of Assistant Director and Co-Director before accepting the position of Director of Camp Lanowa during the Summer of 2019.

2016 was also the year that Thorns received a direct message (DM) on his Twitter account from a username he didn’t recognize.

“I rarely get on Twitter, but I had a notification that I got a DM,” said Thorns. “So I opened it up and it said: ‘Hello, my name is Brandon. I don’t know if you remember me, but you were my counselor back at Camp Kiwago. Do you remember me?'”

It had been over a decade since Thorns sat with Brandon on a porch at Camp Kiwago, so he was shocked and touched by Brandon’s decision to reach out. “My heart just dropped,” Thorns said, upon opening the message.

Brandon had contacted Thorns to share with him the impact Thorns had made on his life as a child. Brandon noted that he and his mother were no longer living in a shelter and that he was heading to college on a basketball scholarship.

Two months after their virtual reunion, Thorns and Brandon, then 19-years-old, caught up with one another in person for the first time in ten years, in New York City.

“That is one of my fondest memories of doing camp,” Thorns said. “To this day, I still keep in contact with Brandon.”

For Thorns, the exchange was a testimony to what he considers to be the mission of HFH Summer Camps.

“You can’t change a life in 12 days, but what you can do is have a positive impact on these kids’ lives,” said Thorns. “At eight-years-old, he [Brandon] never forgot me because I made that positive impact on his life.”

Campers and co-workers alike are eager to point out Thorns’s positive presence at HFH Summer Camps, and the impact this has on the people he interacts with.

Shallaya Neal, Assistant Director at Camp Wakonda, is emphatic about Thorns’s unique and indispensable ability to inspire the HFH Summer Camps community.

“A real man isn’t afraid to learn and grow, even when things are hard. A good man knows how to balance being tough and tender,” she remarked. “A great man knows the difference between things he might want to do, and the things he must do. That man is Shawn Ryan Thorns.”

Thorns enjoys telling Brandon’s story to his counselors precisely because it exemplifies the impact of the environment he strives to create at Camp Wakonda – one of warmth, selflessness, understanding, and mutual growth.

“I create an atmosphere of positivity. I create an atmosphere of family,” he said. “What these kids need most of all is love. A family type of love.”

For Thorns, positive impact is the foundation of the HFH Summer Camps experience, which is intended to provide kids the chance to relax and have fun for 12 days, away from their ordinary surroundings.

“Seeing the kids at their fullest happiness and enjoyment is my favorite part about camps,” he said. “The 12 days that they’re here, I want them to experience love, positivity, and family. That’s why they’re at camp.”

With her more than 26 years of experience working at HFH, Payroll Manager Desiree Sanabria has had ample opportunity to note changes in everything from payroll management software to the location of HFH’s physical office space.

“When we were moving from 50 to 36, I found what I used to call my “bible,” and it’s a steno pad with everything from the first time I started doing the payroll,” she said, referring to HFH Central Office’s move from 50 Cooper Square to 36 Cooper Square.

Sanabria has also noted changes in HFH personnel as the organization has grown to over 300 employees whose timecards she processes every pay cycle.

Unsurprisingly, she has a knack for name recall, easily listing the first, last, and maiden names of former co-workers at HFH.

“When I was younger, I knew every person’s name. I did,” she affirmed. “If you said your first name, I knew your last name and I could tell you where you work.”

Sanabria was promoted to the role of Payroll Manager in 1997 after several years spent working as an Administrative Coordinator at Prospect family residence and Clinton, a former HFH family residence.

“I enjoyed Clinton,” she said, recalling her time at the facility fondly. “The people that were there at that time—this was in the 90s—were a wonderful group of people. I enjoyed it and I enjoyed coming to work every day.”

However, Sanabria came to embrace the new responsibilities and skillsets required of her as Payroll Manager, finding her workplace community expanded by the extensive coordination she undertakes each pay cycle with HFH staff from across the organization.

The Payroll Manager operates out of the finance department of HFH’s Central Office, where Sanabria is widely recognized by her colleagues and supervisors for her extensive knowledge base, amiability, and long-standing commitment to HFH.

“She’s been with Homes for the Homeless for over 25 years—that alone says to me that she’s a good employee,” said Robinson Jimenez, Controller at HFH’s Central Office, and Sanabria’s direct supervisor. “But besides that, she’s very dedicated to what she’s doing and she’s a good co-worker.”

Sanabria recalled her first year as Payroll Manager as a time of transition, including many long workshops with representatives from Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP), a payroll services provider, as she became an ADP Certified Specialist in Payroll, Time, & Attendance.

“ADP has come a long way,” she remarked. “Now, they have it where everything is sort of combined with time and attendance and transmitting the payroll, but before it was three or four steps.”

Outside of HFH, Sanabria is constantly seeking new ways to involve herself in her community.

She does water aerobics three nights a week and regularly attends events like film screenings and informative talks at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a Harlem-based research library.

One of the most fulfilling ways in which Sanabria spends her time is as a volunteer at the Education Alliance’s Sirovich Center for Balanced Living, which offers free meals, programs, classes, and activities to senior citizens in New York City.

For three years, she has been volunteering weekly at the Sirovich Center, handling their payroll and assisting with administrative tasks.

She first stumbled upon the Center serendipitously, while stopping for lunch at one of her favorite restaurants, S’MAC, located close to the building in which the Center is housed.

“They make all kinds of macaroni and cheese—I was addicted, and I’d go there practically every day,” she raved. “On the way, I would walk past this huge building and every time I’d go past there, there were these earrings in the window that I liked.”

One day, on the way from S’MAC back to HFH’s Central Office, Sanabria felt compelled to stop inside the building to purchase the earrings she’d often eyed in the window.

She began asking the Center’s Director about the earrings, which had been made by participants in the Center’s programming.

“When I asked her about what the place was, it was like a spiritual thing came over me,” she recalled. “I found myself asking her if she needed help.”

Sanabria believes the memory of her mother, who had passed away, was the reason behind her emotional pull towards the Sirovich Center, where she’s been volunteering ever since.

Her personal, sustained, and impassioned commitment to the Center is characteristic of her approach to both her professional career and her involvement in her community.

“Once I put my mind to it, that’s it,” she said. “If it’s something I like, then I’ll stick with it.”

As for her 26 years working for HFH, Sanabria finds herself motivated by her workplace community, and the compassion she notes in her co-workers.

“I really enjoy what I do and the people I’ve met here along the way,” she said. “I’ve found over the years, that all of the people that have worked here really wanted to help. You know, it was in their heart to help people.”

As Assistant Manager of Recreation at Saratoga, Breanna Battle manages programming that allows participants to explore their passions through a diverse selection of activities, from kids soccer practice to adult computer class.

Battle and her staff at recreation cultivate this variety intentionally, so that families feel empowered to get involved, regardless of where their interests lie.

“It’s nice to see them find their thing, even if it’s not the same as my thing,” said Battle. “We see what people’s talents are and try to bring them out.”

Battle is a painter herself and previously worked as an Arts & Crafts Specialist for HFH Summer Camps and Saratoga recreation.

While her current role involves program management, she continues to be involved in Saratoga’s arts programming, teaching topics like painting, sculpture, and crochet in an adult art class.

“I do art at home. I do paintings and I have a couple of commissions,” she explained. “This is a way of keeping art in my life—by sharing it with other people.”

Unlike traditional afterschool programming, recreation programming takes place later in the evening and on weekends, and incorporates sports teams, workshops, and special events for the entire family.

Recreation activities are especially targeted towards sparking and honing participants’ passions, including those underemphasized in traditional academic settings.

Recreation is also a lot of fun, for kids and parents alike.

“You say recreation to the kids and they’re instantly excited about it,” said Battle, noting that the kids’ enthusiasm often serves as an impetus for their parents’ involvement.

“I think it starts with the kids,” she said. “The kids want to be here so badly that their parents are kind of pulled in here.”

Parents initially reluctant to involve their families in programming often warm up once they see their kids’ involvement.

Battle recalled one mother at Saratoga jokingly complaining about her kids loving recreation so much that they spent all of their time there.

Then, Battle said, the mother caught the recreation bug herself.

“She actually got really involved in the adult art class and computer skills class, and now she comes to all of the classes,” said Battle. “She sees why the kids love recreation so much, and so she gets involved and she does it, too.”

Staff at Saratoga consider Battle’s dedication as Assistant Manager of Recreation to be a key component in drawing families to programming.

“Breanna is the definition of versatility in the workplace,” said Trevon Charles, Recreational Coordinator. “I have seen her complete dozens of tasks outside of her job description. Her work ethic and ability to get things done is admirable.”

Likewise, Michael Chapman, Director of Saratoga Afterschool, praised Battle’s commitment to recreation.

“Breanna’s passion for youth and families, arts and recreation, and overall youth development is comprehensive,” he said.

Ariel Richardson, Assistant Manager of Afterschool echoed her colleagues’ sentiments, noting Battle’s creativity and positive rapport with families at Saratoga.

Battle, for her part, credited families at Saratoga for recreation’s positive and supportive atmosphere.

“I think it’s because the families are so willing to get involved with what we do,” she said. “They’re so receptive of what we offer them.”

Part of this receptiveness stems from recreation’s responsiveness to parent input, including in the development of community-building family events and activities.

Saratoga’s latest Family Talent Show began as a note in a suggestion box set up by recreation staff. The mother who requested the event then took initiative and worked alongside recreation staff in the development of the show.

“A lot of the family events come from suggestions from the parents; and we want them to be as involved as possible,” said Battle, noting that the mother who proposed the Family Talent Show is now in the process of developing another performance.

Saratoga’s family engagement events are yet another expression of recreation’s commitment to empowering families through their hobbies, passions, and community.

Battle noted that when people are encouraged to excel at their passions, this instills in them a sense of pride and ambition that quickly extends to other aspects of their lives.

“I think the fun activities are the discovery periods. It’s where you try something new and see if that might be your passion,” Battle explained. “That’s where ambition kicks in—where you find out what it is you want to do.”

Whether that passion emerges through sports, the arts, or computer programming, Battle considers this freedom to explore to be a vital service that recreation programming provides for families at Saratoga.

“I think that’s something that you can’t teach or force,” she said. “You just have to guide, and let it be discovered.”