For Immediate Release

FACES Camp – a summer camp for kids with facial differences

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March 26, 2025, Chattanooga, TN — In its seventh year, a transformative summer camp for children with craniofacial anomalies located 45 minutes southwest of Chattanooga provides a memorable experience for children from all over the United States. FACES Camp is a traditional overnight summer camp that brings together youth with craniofacial differences to experience a week at camp with other children who have similar medical conditions. Located in Cloudland, GA, on Lookout Mountain, the camp is for co-ed youth ages 7-17 and will take place from June 15 to 20. Registration is through the FACES Camp website.

Since 2019, FACES Camp has provided a welcoming environment for children with facial differences to experience the typical joys of attending a summer camp, offering activities such as swimming, archery, horseback riding, rock climbing, and campfires. Friendships are formed, and memories are created to last a lifetime. 

Campers have craniofacial anomalies, including Cleft Lip and Palate, Crouzon, Apert, Saethre-Chotzen, Treacher Collins, Pfeiffer, Pierre Robin, Goldenhar, and Hemifacial Microsomia, as well as facial differences resulting from cancer, burns, and accidents. FACES Camp can accommodate children with a feeding tube and tracheotomy who can walk the wooded campus and do not require a personal nurse or caregiver. The camp counselors, each with a craniofacial difference, have an intimate understanding of the campers' needs. 

Camp director Ashley Rhodes, born with Crouzon syndrome, says, “The best way to foster their independence is to let them come to camp where they can be independent within a setting that has the appropriate medical boundaries put in place.” Rhodes adds, “It is important for kids to know they can do anything they set their minds to regardless of their facial difference. In a week, the children are allowed to grow and learn to help themselves instead of relying on their parents.” Campers can also invite a sibling or friend to experience camp together through the Bring a Buddy program. 

FACES: The National Craniofacial Association hosts FACES Camp and covers half of the tuition cost for each camper, with support from foundations and individual donors. Tuition for one week is $495. Tuition and travel scholarships are available to families who require additional financial support. You can give the transformative gift of summer camp to extraordinary kids through private or corporate sponsorship, making it accessible to children who want to attend FACES Camp. For information on how to support FACES Camp, please visit www.facescamp.org.

FACES makes craniofacial surgeries possible for children and adults throughout the United States by providing financial assistance for travel expenses to out-of-town medical centers and supporting families who would otherwise be unable to afford to go.

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Contact: M.E. Sanders, Programs Coordinator                                WHAT: FACES Camp
Email:  mary@faces-cranio.org                                                       WHEN: June 15 - 20, 2025
Phone:  423-266-1632 (office)                                                         WHERE: Camp Woodmont, Cloudland, GA    
FACES website: www.faces-cranio.org                                          CAMP WEBSITE: www.facescamp.org