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Geauga County Maple Leaf
Thursday, April 17, 2025
Camp Ho Mita Koda – Changing Lives, Helping Families By Ann Wishart ann@karlovecmedia.com Summer camp in Northeast Ohio takes many forms — from basketball camp to science camp, horse riding camp to church camp — there is something to attract every child once school lets out for the season. For 95 years, Camp Ho Mita Koda in Newbury Township has welcomed children who have a very specific medical condition, type 1 diabetes, to spend a week in the woods learning from staff and friends how to manage their illness. Thanks to new technology, the medical devices a diabetic needs to wear are small, but for a child, the device often makes them feel they are different and they tend to feel ashamed and are overly-cautious as a result, said Alexandra Richardson, camp director. “When kids come the first time, they cover their devices,” she said, adding they wear bulky sweatshirts in the heat of July. “By the end of the week, they have gone from hiding them to decorating them,” she said.
Richardson recalled a first-grader who depended entirely on her mother to attach the insulin pump. When the young girl was scared to do it herself during camp week, a younger camper approached her, Richardson recalled. “She said, ‘I went through the same thing last year. Let’s do it together,’” she said. With the help of a nurse, devices were located and activated at the same time, Richardson said. It was one example of the many ‘firsts’ campers experience at Ho Mita Koda. Others include supervised kayaking, swimming in a lake and rock climbing — fun activities that give children confidence, she said. Being diabetic can be very isolating to a child in a classroom of other children. Spending a week with other individuals with the same condition gives them more than fresh air and exercise, Richardson said. “What’s really valuable to campers is the sense of community,” she said. “Ho Mita Koda allows a child to be a child. In six short days, we see a huge transformation.”
ANN WISHART/KMG
Staff at Camp Ho Mita Koda prepare for the upcoming summer sessions for diabetic children at the 72-acre facility in Newbury Township. Directors for the camp are, from left, Elizabeth Johnson, Alexandra Richardson and Kristin Frankenberry.
Family Relief
Having a child diagnosed with diabetes is extremely stressful and can alter a family dynamic in many ways, said Kristin Frankenberry, staff director. “Parents struggle to sleep through the night. Diabetes doesn’t take time off,” she said. Richardson is familiar with the emotional distress parents often feel when they learn their child has diabetes. “They need to be talked off the ledge,” she said. The camp office is staffed year round, so a family feeling their situation is untenable can get advice and encouragement by picking up the phone, said Elizabeth Johnson, camp development director. Leaving a child at the camp for the first time is a challenge for some parents, Fran-
“Ho Mita Koda allows a child to be a child. In six short days we see a huge transformation.” – Alexandra Richardson kenberry said, but Ho Mita Coda does everything possible to reassure parents. All activities are closely supervised during the five separate week-long camp periods from May through August, Johnson said. An overnight counselor and a healthcare assistant stay with campers in boys’ and girls’ cabins. A licensed overnight medical team is on site monitoring the blood glucose levels of See Ho Mita Koda • Page 15