Camp 2011

Camp 2011 – Updated June 28, 2011

With heavy hearts, we are announcing that Ukraine Orphan Outreach will not be putting on“Camp 2011.”

As many of you know, we have been diligently working on a State of Colorado License. With countless hours of effort, research and collaboration we had received numerous approvals from the County Planning, Zoning, Health Dept, Environmental Engineer, and Fire Marshall. However, final approval must be granted by the Colorado Department of Human Services.

On Monday the 27^th of June, our CDHS Inspector spent 3 ½ hours with us and informed us of our non-compliance issues. Although there are still unresolved issues with immunization records, guardianship and other documents, the main focus was on his interpretation of our home not meeting commercial standards.  We had been encouraged to let the preliminary permissions mentioned above govern the commercial aspect of the regulations.  However, this recent inspection did not show any flexibility. No amount of reason or argument made a difference.

Appeals to this determination will not be considered for financial or time restrictions.  No provisional waivers will be allowed. The tone and message remained consistent throughout the day that we lived in a home, and not a camp. There is no doubt that our camp model was the first that CDHS had seen, and our inspector was not going to allow it without unrealistic construction changes to our home. Further checking on the inspector’s part has revealed a tightening in his fire code position in an e-mail received today.

Regardless of this setback, UOO remains committed to raising orphan awareness in our local communities and specifically bringing hope to the lives of orphans in Ukraine.  We want to celebrate all of the victories and success that we have been blessed to be a part of. We are extremely thankful and humbled by the hundreds of supporters and volunteers that make up our organization. We ask for everyone’s prayers and support as we change direction in how we facilitate orphan care through other avenues in the future.

Our passion as an organization will burn through this change!

On behalf of the UOO Team,

Clarke & Kris Stoesz

Founders of UOO