People of Portage County: Couple brings care, fun, to foster kid camp
By Brian Kurzynski
“We’re seeking to give children in foster care a week where they can just be themselves and do all the fun things that many of them haven’t been exposed to.”
That is the mission Rachel and Jake Roelse have been on for the past 14 years as volunteers with Royal Family Kids – Central WI, an organization that provides a weeklong summer camp adventure for children in the foster care system, ages 6 through 11.
Rachel Roelse grew up in Marshfield and met her husband, Jake Roelse, while they were in college. After marrying, they moved to Stevens Point, where he was hired at Sentry Insurance, and she, at the school district as a special education assistant. They joined Highland Church in Plover, where they were asked to be mentors for Royal Family Kids (RFK) in its inaugural year.
They signed up, and this summer marks their 14th RFK summer camp. “My mom and sister have also volunteered,” Rachel Roelse said, “so it’s like a family affair.”
“I had a very stable childhood, so when I went through training that first year, I felt terrible. I didn’t realize there were kids that had gone through such horrific things. Over the years, the more you learn about trauma and what it does to children, changing their brains and biology, you understand why kids act and react in the ways that they do. And you want to do something to help.”
Their involvement with RFK inspired the Roelses to adopt their son from South Africa in 2018 and become foster parents in 2023. “When our son went to kindergarten, we decided it was the right time to open our home to children in foster care.” They fostered their first little boy for a year until he moved on to a pre-adoptive home.
Rachel Roelse said they’ve learned firsthand about the many forces pulling foster families in different directions, things that can be very stressful and are often out of a family’s control. That’s what makes the RFK camp experience so special.
“The camp is one week where all the foster kids come together, and they have similar backgrounds. That was one of the things that struck me my first year. The girls I mentored would look at each other and say, ‘Oh, you’re in foster care, too?’ Because in their school environment, they might not know anyone else in foster care. So the kids bond.”
Returning volunteers receive eight hours of pre-camp training, and new recruits receive 12. “That’s when they go through a lot of trauma education. Kids who’ve gone through trauma exhibit lots of behaviors that can be challenging. But it’s their brain’s way of protecting itself from the things they’ve endured.”
This pre-camp training provides an opportunity for team bonding while learning the curriculum that will be implemented. The curriculum is determined by the national organization, California-based For the Children, which sends it out to the more than 250 Royal Family Kids Camps across the country.
“Everything is focused on meeting the specific needs of the kids. We have a birthday party because some kids in foster care may never have experienced a full-on birthday party. We have a formal dinner where they get dressed up. A lot of the boys wear superhero costumes, and the girls will wear big dresses and pick out accessories. We have people who come to do their hair. We decorate the lunchroom with whatever theme we’ve chosen for the year. There’s fun and dancing. It’s a really special event.”
The children also enjoy typical summer camp activities—swimming, archery, canoeing, kayaking, game stations, arts and crafts, tie-dyeing T-shirts, and woodworking.
“We want to provide the kids with plenty of hands-on creative experiences. Those are also a great time for the mentors to get to know the campers. Kids will talk when you’re doing things side by side with them. Oftentimes, I think that’s the best kind of therapy.”
Although RFK is not affiliated with one denomination, it is a Christian faith-based program. The curriculum includes Bible stories and puppet skits that have an object lesson.
“The lessons are focused on things the kids might have trouble with, like how to choose friends well or coping with loss,” Rachel Roelse said. Mentors also perform a serialized skit throughout the week in which campers see the main character overcome relatable challenges.
Rachel Roelse’s role has grown over the years, starting as a mentor and now encompassing camp photographer, memory book editor, mentoring director, and child placement coordinator.
Her husband chose to remain a mentor. “We all have our gifts, and Jake just wants to be with the kids all week. He really enjoys it and has been able to mentor some of the boys even throughout the school year.”
Although RFK has a very high volunteer retention rate, there is always a need for more help.
“We have close to a 90% retention rate. It’s a huge core group, and we ask them to continue spreading the word, to bring in new people. But we always have kids on the waitlist, and we can only bring as many kids as we have volunteers. We maintain a ratio of two adults for every four campers, so that’s a challenge. Last year, we brought 34 kids. We could’ve brought more if we had had more adults, especially men.”
Rachel Roelse said her hopes for the future include creating a scholarship fund for children who have been through the foster care system as well as a weekend camp experience for those ages 12 through 15.
“Your hope is that you’re planting seeds, that the kids can see there are people who love them, care about them, and believe in them. We’d love to see a world where there’s no need for foster care or adoption. In our broken world, that’s not going to happen, but that’s the goal we continue to strive for.”
To learn more about how to volunteer or donate, visit the Royal Family Kids – Central WI website, fosterhopeinc.com/camp.