AS SUMMER STARTS: Few day-camp options for families

William Perkins, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
Updated ·4 min read

Jun. 14—TRAVERSE CITY — As area schools hold their last day of classes, many families are relying on summer day camps to fill their childcare need during the work day.

But those spots are becoming increasingly competitive.

Demand for summer camp programs throughout the region appears to be on the rise— if the line on registration day is anything to go by.

Sign up for the YMCA's day camps began — and ended — Feb. 6 at its Silver Lake Road location.

A year prior, the organization opened its doors for registrations at 5:30 a.m. People began lining up as early as 3:30 a.m., said Thomas Graber, senior program director for Grand Traverse Bay YMCA.

This year, they tried to curb that phenomenon by pushing back the starting time to 7 a.m., but with little effect. People were still lining up hours ahead of time. To even have a shot at claiming spots on some weeks of the program, applicants had to be in line at least half an hour before registration opened, Graber said.

They wrapped up and put their registration table away by about 8 a.m., he said.

Graber attributed some of those circumstances to the success of the summer camp program. When he started with the YMCA 11 years ago, the camp offerings didn't have the stability they do now.

Meanwhile, as the summer camp program built up, the YMCA's membership base increased, Graber said.

They began to see the first signs of capacity issues around 2016 and 2017.

"That's probably one of the best feelings and worst feelings," he said. "Seeing a program grow from not having any credibility ... to having a demand that builds up that quick, that's a great feeling.

"But it's also arguably one of the worst days, because we've built relationships with these families over the last 10, 11 years. And to see a regular, or really anybody, not getting a spot — it's heartbreaking."

But the YMCA isn't the only day camp program experiencing high demand. Traverse City Area Public Schools, as another example, has its Summer Explorers Club, which is open to elementary-age children, operating for eight weeks.

Registration for that camp also began in February. It filled up a little slower than YMCA's summer camp, but all of its spaces were filled by March, said TCAPS spokesperson Ginger Smith.

There are 144 students enrolled each week, she said.

Human Nature School, based in Traverse City with a new Benzie County location starting this season, had to put off registration for its summer camp this year until early this month, because of a leadership change within the organization, said Maya Campbell, summer camp director.

As of this week, there were still about a third of its 57 available spots left, she said.

But people began inquiring about the camp as early as February, when their registration typically would have opened.

"I think, had we gotten our information on our website and enrollment opened a little earlier, we probably would be full at this time," Campbell said. "Usually enrollment opens in February and it's kind of a race to get a spot."

The capacity for a camp like the YMCA's is determined by its license with the state. In the YMCA's case, that limit is at 200 students, Graber said.

YMCA members get first dibs on spots, so this year and in years past, there were never even enough openings to open it up to non-members. But the organization does try to make room for non-member families requiring financial assistance, Graber said.

Though demand was on the rise before COVID, he said the post-pandemic landscape multiplies that effect, as parents went back to work and families emerged from there "COVID hangover" to get kids active and engaged.

Even as summer camp activities ramped back up in the previous two years, this is the first year the organization is able to implement its full bill of pre-COVID programming, including swimming at West Y and field trips, Graber said.

Staffing remains one of the primary limiting factors post-COVID, he noted.

"Childcare is a tough business to be in," Graber said. "I mean, we're a mission-driven organization and so that's, that's what we do. We're here to serve the community ... but from a for-profit entity, it's just tough."