Bender JCC of Greater Washington won Best Inclusive Camp in 2024. This year, it is claiming that title once again, as well as Best Senior Programming and Best Senior Center.
“No matter who walks in the door, we want them to feel like they belong,” said Aimee Segal, chief program and innovation officer at the Bender JCC in Rockville.
Lessans Camp JCC is an inclusive camp for children with and without disabilities.
“Everything that happens at Lessans Camp JCC is inclusive,” Segal said. “Twenty percent of all campers receive some kind of support.”
The camp’s activities include dance, art, a nature program, theater, swimming lessons and a rock-climbing wall, all of which can be modified to fit the different needs of campers.
“Our counselors also play a really vital role in this process, because they help foster meaningful relationships with our campers that they’re working with one on one daily for seven weeks, and they provide encouragement and support,” said Kaitlyn Mora, the inclusion program coordinator at the Bender JCC. “We create a sense of belonging, and it’s the heart of everything that we do here at the JCC year-round.”
As for the Bender JCC’s senior programming, “Coming of Age” Director Frieda Enoch said, “The whole mission of the program is to reach older adults in the community where they are to combat isolation and loneliness.”
The Bender JCC offers a wide variety of senior programming, from bridge and mah-jongg groups to atypical workout classes such as drumming, line dancing and pickleball.
“If I may be so bold to say that we so much care about our people, and I think they picked up on that,” Enoch added.
