June 2021 Blog Post

Summer Day Camps

Starting out dry and hot, and ending with record rainfall, June has sure been a wild ride. In the midst of all of the changes, we hope everyone in the Renew family has been able to find life-giving rhythms as we transition to summer.

As we near the mid-way point to the year, we are humbled and grateful for so many things. We have been able to complete three six-week sessions of therapeutic riding lessons so far this year. We have also been able to add some exciting new partnerships to our summer programming offerings. Renew has partnered with Macauley Therapy Services and Grand Valley State University’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders to offer three sessions of speech camp this summer. And through a partnership with Starlight Ministries, Renew will also be hosting Hoofbeats of Hope grief camp. These new partnerships will allow greater diversity in program offerings and help bring the benefits of Equine Assisted Services to those who need it in our community.

“We are so excited to finally bring speech therapy camps to Renew,” Melissa Conner, Renew’s Executive Director, explained. “Since meeting Beth Macauley at a conference in 2016, we have been dreaming of offering this unique programming here in West Michigan. The breakthroughs that can occur when pairing the movement of the horse with intentional speech therapy are simply amazing. Our equine partners are designed to provide the optimum movement needed to engage the core to set the participants up for success.”

Participants were able to make great gains during their time at speech camp. “All three children made progress toward their speech therapy goals across the three days, and especially during the equine-assisted part of Speech Camp,” explained Dr. Beth Macauley, a speech-language pathologist with board certification and international recognition in hippotherapy.

“Thank you to Kayla, the Renew horse leader volunteers, and the GVSU undergraduate volunteers who helped to make Speech Camp run so smoothly,” Beth added. “You all are greatly appreciated!”

There are two more weeks of Speech Camp available for 2021. There are a few spaces left for each session, so contact Shaina today to get your child registered.

Check out our Programs page for all the details about both Speech Camp and Grief Camp opportunities.

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Outdoor Arena Update

The new 150 x 75 outdoor arena is coming along nicely and the opportunities that it will provide are tremendous. The addition will create the space needed to bring the life-changing benefits of Equine Assisted Services to those who need it. The outdoor arena will create:

A very special thank you to everyone who has given of their time, talent, and treasure to make this space available to our students. Thank you to those that have donated the funds needed to make this a reality. Thank you to Lakeshore Outdoors and Vance for all their hard work and expertise. Thank you to Dan Habers and his amazingly dedicated team of volunteers who spent countless hours in the heat and rain. This space will be a blessing to many!