When Veronica Bynum was looking for a bit of support for her son, Christian, she knew exactly where to turn. For many years, starting when she was eight-years-old, Veronica, who is deaf, spent her summers playing, swimming, reading, sailing, and making friends at Children’s Beach House. In remembering her time at CBH and thinking about what she wanted for her son, Veronica’s thoughts repeatedly brought her back to the people. “We had quality time with the staff,” she recalls. “They took time to hang out with us, to listen to us.” She also remembers her fellow campers fondly. “I also loved story time. They often acted out the stories and made a way for the deaf people to understand. I think my current love for reading comes from story time here.”
“I learned how to swim at Children’s Beach House,” Veronica says proudly, echoing a statement CBH staffers often hear from adults who attended CBH camp. “We also learned how to sail. One counselor pretended we were trying to sail away from a shark,” she laughingly remembers. “We knew it wasn’t real, but it was still kind of scary and lots of fun. It sure got us moving.”
Several years later, when discussing her son’s needs with his school speech therapist, Veronica’s thoughts returned to those memories and she asked, “Do you know about the Children’s Beach House?” The speech therapist did and took things from there. It was only a matter of time before Christian started forming his own collection of happy camp memories.
Like most kids at CBH, when asked what he likes most about Children’s Beach House, Christian immediately responds, “I have lots of friends here.” Because of their speech and language challenges, children who come to CBH often find themselves isolated at school or the targets of bullying. At Children’s Beach House, these kids are given the time, space, and opportunities to connect with other children, to engage in activities together and learn more about one another – and they walk away rewarded with a network of close friends.
Echoing his mother’s experience, Christian says the staff take time to talk with and listen to the kids. Eventually, after talking about his friends and the camp counselors, Christian turns his attention to the things they do together. “I like all the activities — swimming in the bay, playing Uno, playing basketball. The trip to the Delaware State Fair was really fun. So was Killens Pond (State Park).”
When asked if her hopes for her son’s time with Children’s Beach House have been met, if he is as happy and supported as she felt when she was at Children’s Beach House many years ago, Veronika Bynum smiles. “It’s the perfect place for Christian.”
