Imagine • Explore • Create • Discover
Spend your Summer in Alaska!
Apply to join our Summer Camp team!
What is Hope's Summer Camp?
Hope's Community Engagement Center Summer Camp is open to children, teenagers, and young adults ages 9–21 and is inclusive of campers with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. Our Camp staff create a safe, supportive, and engaging environment where every camper can participate fully, build meaningful connections, and enjoy a summer filled with fun and educational activities, community excursions, and true-Alaskan adventures.
Our team of Community Engagement Specialists brings this mission to life by leading a wide range of engaging activities that encourage creativity, movement, teamwork, and self-expression. Staff work directly with campers to adapt activities as needed, provide encouragement, and ensure that every camper feels supported, valued, and included. As a member of our Summer Camp team, you will play an important role in helping campers discover abilities they didn't know they had, build lasting friendships, and enjoy a fun, enriching summer in a community that celebrates inclusion.
We look forward to welcoming you to our Community Engagement Summer Camp team and partnering with you to make a memorable, enriching summer camp experience for everyone!
Make a Meaningful Difference for Alaskan Youth
We are looking for caring, enthusiastic people to help create a full, inclusive camp experience for children, teens, and young adults who experience intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Community Engagement Specialists earn an hourly wage (based on education and experience), paid training, and guaranteed full-time hours throughout the summer. Camp staff lead and support a variety of Summer Camp activities, including recreation, outdoor play, creative arts, community excursions, and skill-building experiences. Camp staff support campers in developing daily living, social, and communication skills while using inclusive teaching methods that encourage participation, self-confidence, and independence.
Requirements of the Role
- High school diploma or GED; and
- One year of experience working, interning, or volunteering within a recreation or therapeutic art program or leading structured group activities; or
- One year of directly related experience supporting individuals that demonstrate challenging and/or aggressive behaviors; and
- Valid drivers license and at least one year of driving experience; and
- Must be able to commit to the whole summer (including pre-Camp training)
If you do not meet some of these requirements, still reach out! There may be an opportunity for you to participate in another area of the Summer Camp program.
Training and Onboarding
Camp staff receive comprehensive, paid training to set them up for success before Camp begins. Training includes seven days of agency orientation and training, followed by eight days of Camp-specific training—for a total of three weeks of training prior to Camp. All staff must be fully onboarded before training begins. Camp operates Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm, leaving your evenings and weekends to explore the great state of Alaska!
Travel, Housing, and Transportation
Out-of-state staff are responsible for arranging and paying for their travel to and from Anchorage. Hope provides free apartment-style housing in Anchorage for all out-of-state staff, designed to support a comfortable and convenient summer experience. Out-of-state staff share a van for daily transportation to and from work. Anchorage city bus passes are provided for personal time, making it easy to get around and explore the great state of Alaska during evenings and weekends.
Apply today!
Summer Camp Weekly Activities 2026
June 8 - July 31 (Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm)
Each year's Summer Camp features new and unique experiences, outings, and adventures. Below is the planned schedule of weekly activities for this year's Summer Camp.
Week 1: Here Comes the Fun
June 8 - 12
Celebrate the start of summer with all the essential camp activities: exploring waterfalls and parks, designing custom camp gear, tie dyeing, kayaking, and creating a ceramic piece to take home. Make new friends and start getting into the summer groove!
Week 2: Tents, Trails, and Tales
June 15 - 19
Calling all Junior Rangers! We will explore, create, camp out, and chill out! Set up a campsite, build a fire with s’mores, create character puppets for a campfire puppet show, and learn about conservation and natural science at the Wildlife Conservation Center and Campbell Creek Science Center.
Week 3: All Aboard!
June 22 - 26
Welcome to Hope’s all-inclusive journey to FUN! This week is all about wheels, wings, and traveling together. Explore the city on a Trolley Tour, learn about Anchorage’s aviation legacy, and visit with our local fire department as they give a firetruck tour. Build and design your own track car to race with friends, and explore local parks and trails in search of the perfect racetrack.
Week 4: It's All Fun and Games
June 29 - July 3
Bring out your competitive side with a week full of games leading up to our 4th of July barbecue! Test your swimming skills at H2Oasis, go with the flow kayaking, aim for a strike at the bowling alley, whack all the moles at Chuck E Cheese, and dance it out at our summer barbecue party!
Week 5: Where the Wild Things Are
July 6 - 10
Musk ox, billy-goats, and bears, oh my! Step into the wild and make a furry friend as we learn about the wonderful creatures of Alaska. We will venture to the Musk Ox Farm, the Alaska Museum, the Anchorage Zoo, and our own Willow Ranch. Unleash your inner animal by creating animal masks and other wild accessories.
Week 6: All About Alaska
July 13 - 17
Juneau what time it is? Adventure time! Bring on the adventure as we appreciate all that our beautiful state has to offer. We will learn about our state's history, feel through art, and engage in classic Alaska past-times like hiking, kayaking, and sight-seeing. We will visit the Reindeer Farm, the Anchorage Museum, and the Alaska Native Heritage Center.
Week 7: Enchanted Adventures
July 20 - 24
"Come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination!" Flaunt your creativity and imagination as we create mesmerizing sensory bottles, science experiments, garden fairy houses, and your own character costume. Test your luck on a treasure scavenger hunt and find magic in nature as we explore more parks and natural wonders. We will visit the Flying Horse Equestrian Center and the Byron Glacier trail.
Week 8: Flora Borealis
July 27 - 31
The last week of camp will be full of un-beet-able and unbe-leaf-able fun in nature! We will stop and smell the roses at the Alaska Botanical Garden, pick produce at the Pioneer Peak Farm, and get lost in nature at the Eagle River Nature Center. At the end of the week, we will celebrate our summer of fun with an end-of-camp karaoke dance party!
The Great State of Alaska
"Alaska" comes from an Aleut word that means 'the great land.' A place of exquisite natural beauty, vast wilderness and unique native culture, Alaska is on so many people's bucket list for good reason.
Alaska Fun Facts
Nickname: "The Last Frontier"
Motto: "North to the Future"
Statehood: 1959; 49th state
Capital: Juneau
Flower: Forget-me-not
Bird: Willow Ptarmigan
Sport: Dog Mushing
Population
Across the state's 660,000 square miles, only about 740,000 people live in this great state. That's an average of about 1.2 people per square mile. About 40% of people live in Anchorage.
Denali
Seventeen of the United States' 20 highest peaks are in Alaska, including the highest peak in North America, Denali, at 20,320 feet above sea level.
Glaciers
Alaska has about 100,000 glaciers, covering about five percent of the entire state, and it has more active glaciers and ice fields than the rest of the inhabited world. Alaska is also home to three million lakes and 12,000 rivers.
Weather
Alaska is called the 'Land of the Midnight Sun' because during summer, in the northernmost part of the state, the sun doesn't set at all! The average daytime temperatures during the summer range from the 60s to the 80s. During the winter, the southcentral region temperatures average single digits to 30s.
Wildlife
Alaska's incredible wildlife is as diverse as its landscapes - black bears, brown bears, moose, Dall sheep, wolves, caribou, bald eagles, puffins, sea otters, and whales, to name a few. It's not uncommon to encounter a moose, or perhaps even a foraging bear, right in your backyard or on the highway.
Aurora Borealis
Also known as the Northern Lights, these milky bands of colored light dance across the night sky and can often be seen on a clear night from anywhere in the state, especially during the months of August to April.
Apply to join our Summer Camp team
