No, we want to welcome you into this community! Counselors at Upward Bound receive 2 weeks of experiential training to equip them with the hard and soft skills necessary for their role including Red Cross First Aid/CPR, Sexual Abuse Awareness Training, Oregon Food Handler's Certification, and archery instruction. Further, our staff are equipped with knowledge on the standard practices to provide personal care to people with a variety of support needs as well as skills in communication, and behavior management. We aim to build a positive and safe community for staff and campers where everyone is valued and celebrated for their unique skills and abilities. 

What we look for is a little less about skills and a lot more about character! We know that all people have something to bring to the table and we want to see and celebrate what you bring! We also look to cultivate the following:

• Patience: the ability to sit with a person and seek mutual understanding, provide regular reminders, live at someone else's pace

• Active Listening & Communication Skills- our campers communicate in a variety of ways including verbal, nonverbal, and through augmented and alternative communication devices. It is important that you are open to communicating through your body, tone, and expression as well as your words.

• An open and flexible attitude: Camp is a dynamic and fast paced environment, meaning that one day will never be like the next. Counselors who are able to remain calm and confident when changes arise allow our campers to thrive!

• Willingness to share the Gospel- we are a faith based camp and hope that all campers will experience the love of God and hear the Truth while they are here

Most basically, you are living life alongside people—seeking to love them well. To us this looks like

• Welcome campers & coworkers with intentionality.

  • Build personal relationships with 2-5 campers each week

  • Recognize and celebrate the strengths of each person

  • Be curious about the life, goals, and dreams of others

• Provide Compassionate Care

  • Support campers as necessary to complete activities of daily living and personal care (assist with showering, toileting, transfers, eating, etc.)

  • Empathetically respond to others who are facing challenges

  • Have eyes to see and meet the needs of others

Invest in Discipleship

• Ask and respond to questions posed by others

• Be purposeful about your personal relationship with Christ or be open to developing a relationship with Christ

• Prepare and lead weekly devotional

Because we are a small camp with a small team you will also assist with some housekeeping responsibilities and support the care of the camp farm animals during your time with us!

While every day looks a little different, usually you can expect that your day will start around 7am when you wake up and prepare yourself for the day. Afterward, you will assist campers to get ready for the day and make their way to breakfast! Mornings will include daily devotionals led by counselors, an activity or two, AM chores, and more. After lunch the fun continues with arts & crafts, games, music activities, and more. Every evening will have an all camp event just before campers go to bed at 8:30ish! Staff are expected to be in bed by 11pm and may have limited on call responsibilities to support campers a few nights each week.

We also know that rest is important! Each full camper day you will have a 2 hr. break to nap, pray, read, or rest in whatever way you need!

Upward Bound Camp is located in the tiny town of Gates, OR on the banks of the Santiam River! We are located about 45 min from Salem, 1 hr. from Sisters, and about 2 hrs. from the coast.

Weekends at camp are what you make of them! From about 5pm on Friday until 8am on Monday you are free to explore! A few times each summer there will be some free opportunities organized by camp to get out and explore something wonderful from Silver Falls state Park to the Oregon Fair, Cannon Beach to Paintball we work with staff to choose outings that most interest them!

YES! Our staff team is small and tight knit…it can become a big family by the end of it all. It is important to us that our team strives to love one another in the same way that we love our campers!

Part of our two week training is geared toward building meaningful relationships between staff! Because staff relationships are so important to us we also pause in the middle of the summer season to take a team retreat, allowing us to slow down, reconnect, and deepen relationship with one another!