The Challenge & Our Solution:
Rhode Island has a large refugee population, resettling approximately 100-345 refugees every year. School-aged refugee children face many challenges integrating into the US educational system, especially as many have experienced severe interruptions in formal schooling.
Camp RYSE helps meet this urgent need with hands-on, project-based learning that targets summer learning loss, as well as by forging community among young people with shared experiences of displacement and resettlement. Camp RYSE also provides opportunities for youth employment and pipelines to meaningful careers for teenagers and young adults in the refugee community: over 50% of our staff are Camp RYSE alumni, and many have cited Camp as the reason they went on to choose careers in education and public service.
Our History
In 2006, two Brown University students co-founded Brown Refugee Youth Tutoring in Enrichment (BRYTE), organizing college students to provide one-on-one, in-home, language-focused tutoring to newly arrived refugee youth. In 2011, to alleviate summer learning loss, they founded BRYTE Summer Camp, serving approximately 20 youth in the basement of a church. Today, Camp RYSE operates independently from Brown University and serves 100-120 campers with a staff of 20 camp counselors and 4 seasonal camp directors.
Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors consists of 15 members, all with deep histories with Camp RYSE, and is 73% Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Five of our members are refugee young adults and/or program alumni. We are doctors, teachers, lawyers, students, journalists, and engineers all committed to the future success and financial sustainability of Camp RYSE.
