Newaygo County Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect at the Center for Hope and Healing

"This review is specifically about summer magic, as that is the only service Ive received through this company. I've heard them do wonderful things for the community, so please take this with a grain of salt. So far during the year the day camp has cancelled twice (both for very good reason, I'm not saying they shouldn't have closed. I want to make that very clear.) However, the communication between kids parents and the camp is awful in my opinion. They posted the closings on Facebook, but I wasn't even aware there was a Facebook group until late this afternoon after I had already shown up to drop off my sister. I only found out because a grandparent that usually drops their kid off for the parents mentioned it to me and asked if I had seen any closings for today on the Facebook page. For a place that takes the phone numbers of the people who pick up and drop off the kids, there is little to no communication on what is happening at the camp. My sister has had a wonderful time and looks forward to going to camp every day that they're open, so it's very sad to show up and see no one there and have to tell her we just have to turn around and go home. While I understand that this is not a child care program, it is something that my family plans around and sometimes relies on to be able to go to work without bringing her along with us. It's hard to get a baby sitter when you aren't notified that camp isn't happening and just figure it out yourself by showing up and seeing that there are no workers there. Not to mention that using Facebook as your only way to announce that there is a closing is extremely inaccessible to many people (Ex. Low income families without internet, or elderly people who may not understand how to use Facebook). Along with that, I'm very frustrated with the way my mother was spoken to when she tried to explain these concerns to an employee. The employee was very rude and dismissive to her concerns about the flaws in communication. When my mom tried to explain that she relys on the camp to make it so my family members can go to work (and that it's basically impossible for us to get a baby sitter last second) the worker simply said "we are not a full time child care service." Which is not what my mom had said. I am thankful for the fun experience the camp provides for the children, but truly dislike their communication choices and am upset with the rude treatment they give to concerned families. If there are other communication methods my mother and I were not informed (which just further proves my point about the communication with the camp leaders being an awful experience.)"