Programs and results
What we aim to solve
There are more than one million children in California with chronic and life-threatening illnesses. Our needs assessment revealed more than 17,500 of those children are unable to attend summer camp due to their medical conditions. That is, until The Painted Turtle came along! Each year, we provide more than 3,000 on-site camp experiences to children and family members effected by serious illness. We welcome roughly 130 children to each of our 8 overnight, medical condition-specific Summer Sessions, up to 130 campers and family members to each of our 10 Family Weekends, and over 400 guests to both our annual Holiday Gathering and our Spring into Camp event. Additionally, we serve 3,500 campers annually through our in-hospital program, The Painted Turtle Outpost. Outpost brings the camp experience into 22 hospital sites, medical centers, and clinics throughout California, as well as to community events.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Medical Specialty Camp Program
The Painted Turtle can be a powerful intervention for children who have chronic and life-threatening illnesses. The camp’s week-long summer sessions and year-round weekends help seriously ill children gain the knowledge, skills, and support they need to lead healthier, happier lives.
Through scheduled visits to the Well Shell (the camp’s medical center), evening cabin chats, and spontaneous "teachable moments,” campers develop greater coping strategies, learn medical self-care techniques, and increase their medical compliance through intentional programming. Campers’ participation in adaptive physical activities such as horseback riding, swimming, and the high-ropes adventure course, helps them build greater confidence, self-esteem, and trust in their bodies. The Painted Turtle’s arts and crafts, performing arts, and nature programs provide campers with avenues for self-expression, creativity, and exploration.
Similar to the summer camp sessions, The Painted Turtle’s Family Weekends are designed to meet the unique needs of families with children who have chronic and life-threatening illnesses. These overnight weekends offer families respite from the stress of caring for a chronically ill child and give the whole family an opportunity to reconnect and recharge in a safe and beautiful environment.
During their time at The Painted Turtle they also get to connect with, and gain support from, others who are dealing with a similar situation. Throughout the weekends children and parents participate in educational, recreational, and community building activities.
The Painted Turtle operates nine program areas which include aquatics, archery, arts and crafts and woodshop, boating and fishing, creative and performing arts, equestrian, fun and games, nature and discovery, and a ropes adventure course.
The Painted Turtle Camp, located in Lake Hughes, 60 miles north of metropolitan Los Angeles, encompasses 173 acres with a 23-acre bass lake. The camp offers weeklong, disease-specific programs to hundreds of children ages 7 to 16 during the summer. Throughout the rest of the year, The Painted Turtle hosts chronically ill children and their families for weekend programs. Each of these opportunities allow us to offer children and families challenged by chronic and life-threatening illnesses with the chance to learn new strategies of medical self-care, increase their self-confidence, build supportive friendships with peers who have the same disease, and have some good old-fashioned fun. Camp allows these children to regain some of their childhood that has been lost to illness and learn a bit more about how best to cope with their illness.
Hospital Outreach Program
The Hospital Outreach Program, otherwise known as The Painted Turtle Outpost, takes the magic and fun of what we do at our camp-site to hospitals and medical community events throughout California.
The Outpost program allows The Painted Turtle to reach out to children who are hospitalized, giving them a chance to be in an environment where they can "go to camp” and forget about their illness, at least for a little while. Since the launch of the program in September 2007, the Outpost program has brought the fun and spirit of our camp program into hospital playrooms and community events all throughout California. The Painted Turtle provides this program to hospital and partner organizations free of charge.
During The Painted Turtle Outpost events, children enter into a creative "camp” environment that is inclusive, supportive, and challenging – just like the one at The Painted Turtle’s camp-site!
Where we work
Accreditations
American Camping Association (ACA) - Accreditation 2006
Affiliations & memberships
American Camp Association - Member 2006
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of participants engaged in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
total Camp experiences in 2020
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Volunteers in 2020
Hours of volunteer service
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Volunteer Hours in 2020
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Through the camp experience, our goal is to offer campers the opportunity to celebrate childhood – to swim and fish, ride horses, sing campfire songs, and make friends that will last a lifetime. Activities at camp empower children to discover who they are and instill in them the skills, confidence, and healthcare knowledge needed to thrive at their highest potential. While at camp, children and families are surrounded by others with a similar diagnosis, which instills a greater sense of understanding and belonging. In short, our goal is for children with serious medical conditions to realize all that is possible in their lives.
We serve more than 5,000 campers and family members every year. Through our on-camp and off-site program offerings we are continually exploring ways to welcome as many children and their families as possible into our programs and ways that meet their needs by safe and affirming means. Reaching capacity in all existing programs and the consideration of growth is a complicated formula that involves medical safety, site readiness, dietary requirements, staffing, volunteer availability, and budgetary issues. Our goal over the next several years is to increase our capacity to serve by strengthening our ability to do so for decades to come.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The Painted Turtle offers an exhilarating array of camp activities and intentional programs that foster personal growth, self-confidence, and exploration. Our programs empower campers to make new friends, gain independence in their medical care, and become their greater selves.
The Painted Turtle offers year-round programs including: Spring and Fall Family Weekends for the entire family, one-day family events, week-long Summer Sessions, and hospital outreach programs.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Painted Turtle is governed by an independent, volunteer Board of Directors comprised of prominent and influential business and community leaders who are committed to our mission. Board members attend three board meetings each year, serve on committees, make governance decisions, support The Painted Turtle financially, and are proactive ambassadors of The Painted Turtle.
The Medical Advisory Board guides the direction and development of our medical program, ensuring that the medical care provided at The Painted Turtle is of the highest quality. The Advisory Board is comprised of many of the Pediatrics Department Chairs in our Founding Hospitals or their selected representatives. Their commitment to the advancement of care for pediatric patients with serious medical conditions is demonstrated by their many contributions to our organization.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2019 The Painted Turtle served over 2,073 on-site camp experiences for children and families, cared for over 120 medical conditions, hosted 8 summer sessions, 10 family weekends, and 1 day camp. Our hospital outreach program made 159 visits to serve 3,479 children.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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The Painted Turtle
Board of directorsas of 9/23/2021
Page Adler
No Affiliation
Page Adler
No Affiliation
Lou Adler
No Affiliation
Tom Amster
Morgan Stanley
Shelly Brown
Child Advocates & the Children's Crisis Treatment Center in Philadelphia, PA
Larry Brown
Charlotte Bobcats
Melanie Cook
Ziffren Brittenham LLP
Janet Crown
JMK Productions and Burn 60 Fitness Studio
Dr. Lorry Frankel
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford
Steve Gaggero
Pacific Coast Management
Laurentius Harrer
Capital Guardian Trust Company
David Hernand, Esq.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
John Hotchkis
Ramajal LLC
Sue Ann Masson
Green Lantern Stables, LLC
Carolyn Powers
No Affiliation
Tony Ressler
Ares Managment, LLC
Joseph Rice
Wells Fargo & Company
Dr. Cynthia Telles
Spanish Speaking Psychosocial Clinic-UCLA Neuropsychiatric Insitute Hospital
Roger Wittlin
SilverLake Financial
Seth Miller
DBL Investors
Helen Graves
Roy March
Eastdil Secured
Barbara March
Eric Pulier
ServiceMesh
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No