Get Involved

Because Camphill Village is a campus of the Camphill Academy, you can earn your certification in one of three levels of our Social Therapy Training Program here in the Village. Our ability to offer this enriching coursework aligns with our wish to encourage all residents to pursue their interests and passions and develop meaningful relationships along the way. The program is tuition-free, and it is the only English-language program of its kind.

Visit the Camphill Academy

http://camphill.edu/programs/social-therapy-program/

to learn more about programming.

Social Therapy Training Program

Under the auspices of the Camphill Academy, Camphill Village USA offers a Social Therapy Training Program for resident volunteers of the Village, tuition-free. It is the only English-language program of its kind.

Practitioners of Social Therapy bring a holistic, transdisciplinary approach to working with individuals living at Camphill Village, including social work, human services, medicine, psychology, and nursing, as well as the arts, agriculture, and community building.

There are three levels of certification available to volunteers at Camphill Village:

1. Certificate in Foundation Studies in Anthroposophic Social Therapy
2. Paraprofessional Certificate in Anthroposophic Social Therapy
3. Diploma in Anthroposophic Social Therapy

Students may choose to complete a bachelor’s degree in a field related to Social Therapy by transferring into a suitable BA completion program after completing the fourth year of the Social Therapy program.

Training for New Volunteers

For most new volunteers, the Camphill Village experience is their first exposure to a lifesharing community and to working and living side-by-side with people with special needs. As they form relationships, make friends and participate in Village social life and celebrations, volunteers also participate in different trainings.

To learn more about educational opportunities for Camphill Village volunteers, please email volunteer@camphillvillage.org.

Camphill Village is on the verge of launching some crucial advocacy efforts, aimed at getting the attention and support of our local and state political representatives. We need your help and no one is better equipped than YOU to speak to the great services and meaningful life the Village provides for adults with developmental disabilities. We need your stories to help educate state agencies and lawmakers on the importance and accomplishments of Camphill Village.

Please contact Nancy Lewis, Camphill Village board member and mother of a villager, to find out how you can help and get involved. Send her an email at nlewis@camphillvillage.org, and use “Advocacy” as your subject.

An open letter from Nancy Lewis:

 

Villagers, Family members, Friends, Board Members, Coworkers – We are all advocates, because we love Camphill Village. If you are connected in these ways, you probably talk about Camphill Village every day. You can help with letter-writing, speaking to groups, widening our social media contacts, and more. Ideas are welcome!

 

This past year, we have learned that it is very important for others to understand Camphill Village and to hear why it is important to us. Legislators and officials from OPWDD are especially eager to learn about Camphill Village because they are the people who make funding and policy decisions. Since Camphill Village is a bit different from the larger programs that serve people with developmental disabilities, we can help these decision-makers understand why so many villagers have chosen to call Camphill Village home.

 

Until recently, people who live at Camphill Village kept a fairly low profile in the community and in the state. That is compatible with the idea of life-sharing – we go to and fro in the communities around Camphill Village as small family groups, and we fit easily into our surroundings. We have lots of friends and champions, but we aren’t in the habit of asking them to write letters or speak for us. Many of our friends do not know that Camphill Village is part of a large world-wide network of Camphill places.

 

Things have changed! In recent months, friends and families have conducted a series of very effective (and helpful) letter-writing campaigns. We write from the heart, as family members and close friends. We have written to legislators around the state and to the folks at OPWDD. We are learning to tell our stories to show the wider world why small “farmstead” programs are exactly right for some people. Our letters have been very much appreciated.

 

Please join us in this important work.

 

Best wishes,

Nancy