Camp Talahi Retreat and Nature Center

Hanging out together under the oaks at Camp Talahi is more than just our favorite activity, it’s our passion, our drive, and our purpose. However, we take seriously our responsibility to provide an experience where you can laugh, jump, swim, hug, sweat, and tumble in safe and empowering environment. With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we are unable to guarantee the level of safety that our community deserves. Therefore, it is with great sadness that Camp Talahi has come to the conclusion that we cannot safely hold in-person summer camp for the 2020 summer season.

BUT we can’t bear to not see your smiling faces for an entire summer! With this in mind we are excited to announce that Camp Talahi will be offering virtual programming this summer! Now, you may still be feeling bummed about the news, and truth be told we are bummed too, but in the grand old camping tradition, we refuse to let external circumstances spoil our fun, and we are determined to bring you the best Talahi experience we can, just from a safe distance! We don’t have all the answers or details figured out quite yet, but read on to see our vision of what virtual Talahi can look like this summer

Update your Calendars!

With all of the changes headed your way, we wanted to first give you a chance to update your schedules! While there hasn’t too much of a change for our core summer programming, you will find some tweaks and shifts in our updated 2020 summer schedule below! Please note that this is a preliminary schedule, and while we intend to keep the camps within their given weeks below, the exact times and dates will likely shift as we determine what the best schedule is for our updated virtual programming! 

June 22-25: CIT Camp
June 29-30: Mini Camp
July 6-9: Junior Camp
July 13-16: Junior High Camp
July 18: Family Camp
July 20-23: Transcend the Binary Teen Camp
July 27-30: Senior High Camp
July 25-26: Young Adult Camp

A Summer Re-Imagined

Ok, at this point you might be asking yourself, what does a virtual summer camp look like?! Well, to be honest we are still working on the details of this ourselves, but we’ve got some ideas that we are really excited about!

The core of this vision is to have blocks of time each day where campers zoom in with each other and their counselors, play games, sing songs, and engage in many of the activities they normally would, just virtually instead of in person. One of the most important things about this virtual camp will be reconnecting our camp community, especially during a season that has been marked with isolation and disconnect.

As we develop this programming we will be sharing more of the details in terms of how long these blocks of time will, how many we’ll have, and what sorts of activities you’ll be able to expect. In terms of pricing, the details aren’t settled on here either, but we want to assure you that the prices will be greatly reduced from what you are used to seeing from us and camperships will still be available on an as-need bases.

More Questions: Uncharted Territory

We know you likely have more questions! And we want to hear them. We may not have all the answers quite yet, but its our goal to communicate with you during this time of extreme uncertainty. To begin to answer some of these questions, here’s a short FAQ! 

Q: TLDR What’s going on at Camp this summer?
A: Camp Talahi is moving to all virtual programming for 2020!

Q: Why is this decision being made now?
A: We recognize that the timing of this decision may seem odd, with the Governor’s stay-at-home order being relaxed and with fewer cases each week here in Michigan (a trend which we are hope will continue!) the truth is that no one knows what the next two months will bring. This situation creates two main problems for Camp.

1. The uncertainty makes it difficult for us plan, both from a programming and financial perspective. It would be a terrible fate to have all our staff hired, deans in place, only to have a resurgence prevent us from having camp and leaving us with no time to plan virtual programming.
2. Camp is an inherently high risk environment. Even if numbers are low in Michigan, Talahi brings in campers from all across the state, increasing risk of infection both for our campers and the communities they return to. Additionally, Camp’s intentionally hands-on nature makes social distancing that much more difficult.

Q: How much will virtual camp cost?
A: We haven’t set on a final price for the summer, but you can expect greatly reduced pricing for this summer’s programming. In addition, you will see the return of tiered-pricing again this summer, with the goal of making Camp Talahi as affordable as possible!

Q: Is Camp going to stay virtual forever?
A: No! This is a temporary and emergency measure given the extent of the coronavirus pandemic, and while no one can predict the future, we fully expect to be back up close and personal in 2021.

Didn’t see the questions you were looking for? Please send any and all additional questions to camptalahi@gmail.com!

Stay Safe, Stay Connected!

We know for many of you this will come as heartbreaking news, particularly for those who have been looking forward to getting back out to Camp all year. We share your pain. But know that the Camp Talahi community is resilient and will endure the trials before us. Much of this resiliency comes from the support of the community, so we encourage you to stay in touch with one another as much as is possible, and reach out for whatever you may need.