Farm & Wilderness Foundation — Local services in Plymouth

Farm and Wilderness pretends to be open and inclusive but in fact it is an oppressive fascist institution. My son who was one of two black kids in the entire camp was accused of being racist because he “used the N word” For reference to date I literally have NEVER heard him use that word. In digging deeper I came to realize the accusations were made to hide the racism and intolerance being shown to him by other campers and counselors.

One camper would hit my son repeatedly with an instrument telling my son he was going to whip him back to slavery and that his skin looked like a burnt meatball and another camper who also repeatedly hit him my son once asked him “why do you keep hitting me is it because I am black?” The camper replied "Well actually it is because you are black” both incidents were reported to head counselors who ignored him and instead tried to create a narrative that made it look like he was the problem.

One camper who outweighed my son by at least 60 pounds continued to make threats of violence against him throughout his time there which were never addressed.

My son was repeatedly excluded from camp activities as punishment for not wanting to do chores and forced him to spend the day by himself in the cabin. Solitary confinement is considered to be a human right’s violation and should not be tolerated anywhere- especially not a camp that likes to preach non-violent forms of conflict resolution.

Counselor A was abusive toward my son and once dug his nails into his arm in an attempt to force him to get water and in another instance deliberately let a tree branch he was holding back for other campers go so it whacked my son so hard in the head it left a mark. He didn’t apologize but instead smirked and walked away. This was witnessed by two other campers.

My son asked the counselors repeatedly if he could speak with me and was repeatedly denied that request. He has gone to sleep away camp almost every summer for the past 4 years and this was the first summer he has ever asked to speak with me. When I finally got wind of what was happening I demanded to speak with him I received emails from both Sam and Meri stating that someone would facilitate a call between my son and me that night. That phone call never happened which made me feel like certain people at F&W did not want my son speaking to me because they were afraid he might bring up the aforementioned things.

After several awful condescending phone calls with the head F&W director Frances we finally agreed it would be best for my son to leave early . The camp agreed to have two counselors drive my son to my aunt’s house in Boston. Sam also stated in an email that if my son was going to arrive at my aunt’s house more than 30 minutes after the expected arrival time which was 1PM someone would let me know. He arrived almost an hour late which caused both me and my 85 year old aunt to spiral into a panic and worry that something bad had happened to him at the hands of the camp. I repeatedly tried calling the camp but was not able to get through to anyone except the director Frances and only after I left a voicemail stating that if I did not hear back from the camp my next call would be to the police. This again showed a complete and utter lack of concern for the health and well being of our family. When I brought up how worried I was with camp director Frances she literally laughed in my face.

In sum, Farm and Wilderness failed to protect my child from abuse and exhibited classic discriminatory behavior toward a child of color. F&W not only turned a blind eye toward abuses inflicted upon my son but also perpetuated abusive behavior toward him.

I did wind up receiving a full refund after I discovered that the parents of one of my son’s friends also pulled him from camp early for similar concerns. It is easy to try and pretend that one child is the problem it gets much harder when multiple children start complaining of abusive behavior.

My son was so traumatized by the experience he has said he will never go to sleep...

We had high hopes for this camp. I know they were challenged this year with the floods and a Covid impact at camp. My son did like his counselors and enjoyed some of the camp. I felt their communication was good with us as this was the first time he was away from home. The main problem is he got sick. They quarantined him for two days and he still was sick (vomiting). They quarantined him again. The camp communicated they had a stomach epidemic going through the camp. He relayed how sick he felt through a counselor and his aunt immediately picked him up. He was taken to the urgent care and they immediately tested him for strep throat which was positive . He had lost 12 pounds in 3 weeks at camp and was incredibly weak. I wish the camp had been more attuned to his sickness and taken him to a doctor so they could have identified his illness. I am sure all what have been fine had he not gotten...

Farm and Wilderness is a unique camp that emphasizes the importance of connecting with peers without the distractions of social media. It shows young people the value of working in community, pushing themselves to get something done and then gives them the gift of accomplishment. It is hard to find a place that allows our youth to live simply, work hard, and find the joy in the process. F&W is a pearl that builds confident young people who can climb mountains, swim long distances, engage in important conversations, harvest vegetables from the garden, sing at that top of their lungs, play all camp games where no one has to win, sleep in open cabins and hear the sounds of nature, be a peer advocate, chop wood, milk a cow, and just be stronger, more confident, and a wiser...