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The History of Camp fYrefly
In 2004, Dr. André P. Grace and Dr. Kristopher Wells, researchers and educators at the Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, founded Camp fYrefly as a university-community educational outreach project that focuses on the needs of sexual and gender minority youth who variously identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-identified, two-spirit, intersexed, queer, questioning, and allied. Camp fYrefly has evolved into a 4-day volunteer-based, residential style summer leadership retreat for these youth. It focuses on building and nurturing their leadership potential and personal resiliency in an effort to help them become agents for positive social change in their schools, families, and communities. Camp fYrefly is Canada’s only national sexual and gender minority youth leadership camp affiliated with a major research university. This ensures for financial accountability and pedagogically-sound programming, which is evidence-informed and based on thorough research and identified youth health and safety trends.
In 2012, Camp fYrefly-Alberta will be entering its 9th summer, while Camp fYrefly-Saskatchewan will be entering its 4th. The possibility of expanding Camp fYrefly across Canada is quite exciting. Please explore the website to learn more about this transformative experience, and contact us if you would like to learn how to help support youth attend current Camps or to establish a Camp fYrefly location in your community.
