Campers Michelle Hodonou and Anijah Brewer have a lot on their plate at Camp Riley. Between rock climbing, shooting arrows, making bracelets, tie-dyeing and swimming, Brewer said there’s not much downtime.
“It’s very fun,” Brewer said. “From the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep, you'll always be occupied with something.”
Like others attending this session at Camp Riley, they share the same diagnosis: sickle cell disease.
Founded in 1955, Camp Riley offers eight residential sessions each summer for hundreds of children and adults with physical and cognitive disabilities. For Hodonou and Brewer, Camp Riley is a chance to meet people who know what they’re going through.
“Outside of here, no one else really understands,” Hodonou said. “You can't understand if you've never been through it, you know?”
Camp Riley is located at Indiana University’s Bradford Woods in Martinsville.
Hodonou and Brewer’s weeklong session, Camp Independence, focuses on managing chronic blood conditions and growing an outdoor lifestyle. Other sessions support campers with disabilities such as Down syndrome, craniofacial anomalies and developmental disorders.
Chad Simmons, Bradford Woods program director, said Camp Riley’s activities are accessible for all campers — even the zip line and 50-foot climbing tower.
“We are a highly accessible, universally-designed facility,” Simmons said. “We're able to adapt many of the activities to meet the needs of all of our campers, whether that's adaptive climbing gear to help our campers ascend the top of the Tango Tower, or adaptive archery equipment to make that activity a little bit easier.”
Like many summer programs, campers can also fish, swim, canoe and hike in the woods.
Accommodations and adjustments will depend on the camper, but Simmons said the goal is always to create the least-restrictive environment possible.
For example, campers with sickle cell disease experience issues with pain, fatigue and temperature regulation. So, Simmons said Camp Riley staff heat the pool, avoiding an extreme temperature change that could trigger a reaction in the body.
Brewer said sickle cell disease can act up randomly, causing her joints to throb or pain to flare up.
“It's weird, I don't really feel like that when I'm here,” Brewer said.
Hodonou said last time she was at camp, hip pain prevented her from walking long distances. She missed out on some things, Hodonou said, but she didn’t have to go home or miss an entire day’s worth of activities.
“I feel like they really are on top of it with the medicine, the heating patches, just making sure that we have everything we need,” Hodonou said.
Simmons said each camper works toward individualized recreational therapy goals.
Riley Children's Health providers, including nurses, pharmacy staff and physician assistants, provide round-the-clock medical support. Depending on the session and level of need, campers can have up to one-to-one support.
But campers are also focused on having fun, making friends and memories.
“I don't laugh this much at home,” Hodonou said. “I feel like we tell a lot of jokes. So that's what I really enjoy, just the laughing.”
Hodonou said she decided to return to Camp Riley because of the relationships she built, especially with counselors. Those counselors also came back this summer, she said.
“The counselors were enthusiastic,” Hodonou said. “They brought the energy. They were so fun. They were loving, and they treated us like friends.”
Brewer returned to Camp Riley for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike Hodonou, Brewer said there aren’t many familiar faces this year.
“It's okay, because we get to make new connections,” Brewer said.
Camp Riley’s 2026 sessions run through July.
