Camp Tracey - A Children's Home Ministry

ABOUT US

Camp Tracey Children’s Home was started in 1982. Camp Tracey is an integral and inseparable ministry of Harvest Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. The camp is located near the small community of Taylor; approximately forty-five miles northwest of Jacksonville, Florida. On a 160-acre farm, our girls and boys enjoy the unique experience of living as a farm family in two dormitories nestled in the middle of fields and rolling green pastures occupied by horses and beef cattle. We now house between forty and fifty children. There are separate homes for both boys and girls.

Camp Tracey is a children's home dedicated to the salvaging and changing of the lives of at-risk youth. In America alone there are millions of young people enslaved by alcohol, drugs, prostitution, and other destructive elements. There are teenagers added to this number every day. Camp Tracey has reached, and will continue to reach, many of these at-risk youth. It is our goal to turn this desperate situation around with the aim and purpose of developing young men and women who are God- fearing, law-abiding and productive citizens.

Our children, whose lives we share for a minimum of one year, come to us through referrals, desperate parents, counselors, pastors, and word of mouth. Our young people are teens with problems covering all phases of life.

Our desire is to reach these young people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to see them trust Him as Savior and Lord of their lives. This is the foundation upon which all other steps of rehabilitation must be built.

Here at Camp Tracey, the educational welfare of our children is one of the top priorities. We use the personalized Accelerated Christian Education curriculum. Almost without exception. our children come to the Camp with extreme academic problems. Many of them need to go back to the most elementary basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. However, with the consistent supervision and personalized help they receive, we are seeing amazing results.

As well as leading our children to a right relationship with the Lord, building correct character traits, and striving for academic advancement, we expose them to many areas of vocational training. Emphasis is placed on agricultural and mechanical instruction, farming, and livestock management.

In their free time our children enjoy basketball, football, volleyball, and fun with the many animals. There is also time for singing, reading, and sharing with friends they have found at Camp Tracey.

We have seen amazing results in the lives of the youth who have completed the program offered at Camp Tracey. Almost all of those who return to homes where parents follow the basic principles laid out and taught at Camp Tracey do extremely well, both in society and at home. When we see a life that was practically destroyed, fulfilling the purpose for which it was created, it makes the effort at Camp Tracey worthwhile. We have only begun to scratch the surface of what can be done by reaching these young people through the ministry of Camp Tracey.

The expense of housing, clothing, and educating the children is very high. Approximately 20% of the total cost comes from the families of the children living at Camp Tracey. The remaining support must comes from concerned people in the community.