Mission

The mission of the Aspen Camp of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ACDHH) is to enrich the lives of Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals by providing experiential educational and recreational activities which increase self-esteem, confidence and individual skills.

While we remain committed to our primary mission of serving the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, we are committed to responsible stewardship of our unique 17+ acre site and have opened the use of our site to other disabilities, other non-profit organizations, and to the general public in the valley.

Vision

To become the premier camp choice for deaf and hard of hearing individuals around the world. In other words, we want to be the best and your favorite camp.

History

Reed Harris saw his lonely deaf son looking out the window watching hearing children playing and enjoying a carefree life. Determined to give his son the same experience, he went out to establish a camp exclusively for deaf and hard-of-hearing children so that they may also have companionship, opportunities, and adventures equal to their hearing peers. Mr. Harris, along with Tom Sardy and Lt. General William Martin, officially formed Aspen Summer Camp for the Deaf, Inc. on October 6, 1967.

Over the next 10 years, 17 acres of riparian land in Old Snowmass was donated to the camp and a winter program was introduced. The camp changed its name to Aspen Camp School for the Deaf to reflect the improvement in program and educational quality. In 2008, Aspen Camp of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ACDHH) was established as our doing-business-as name and started introducing year-round programming for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. While there are many camps available to the deaf and hard of hearing community, ACDHH is one of three organizations in the nation that exclusively provide outdoor summer and winter programming to deaf and hard-of-hearing children. ACDHH is the only year-round facility serving deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals from youth to the elderly. We proudly served our forty-fifth year in 2011 and have served over 4,000 children.