March 10 – 16, 2025 | Woodcreek, Texas
TNOYS is excited to announce that our 2025 PEAKS Camp will be held in March in Woodcreek (one hour south of Austin).
Volunteer at PEAKS
TNOYS relies on dedicated volunteers to make PEAKS Camp possible! Join us to make a direct impact in youth’s lives and give them a unique chance to enjoy a traditional camp experience.
We ask that volunteers sign up for four consecutive days between March 10 – 16 (lodging and meals are provided). You’ll lead activities with children in foster care and support the camp’s success. Learn more in the volunteer flier and sign up below.
Be a PEAKS Champion
TNOYS is seeking businesses, organizations, and individuals to cover essential costs for this year’s camp and sustain the program into the future. Sign up below to sponsor PEAKS and give children in foster care a life-changing experience.
Left to right: Group of youth campers; camp outdoor activity; An adult sponsor (left) strikes a pose during a yoga activity with campers.
Our Impact
PEAKS uses extensive evaluations to measure the benefit to youth campers. Following their participation in PEAKS, youth are much more likely to agree with the statements below:
- “I have confidence in my ability to face new challenges” — 88% of campers agreed
- “I have leadership qualities” — 85% of campers agreed
- “I am good at many things” — 87% of campers agreed
- “I would rather talk about a problem than fight over it” — 87% of campers agreed
- “I can solve problems successfully” — 84% of campers agreed
About PEAKS Camp
The PEAKS (Physical and Environmental Activities for Knowledge and Skills) Adventure Program has been transforming the lives of its participants since 1984 when a group of youth care workers and young people from shelters, halfway houses, and juvenile justice agencies partnered with Texas Network of Youth Services to create an intensive residential camp experience founded on best practices in youth development theory. PEAKS participants have traditionally been youth dealing with at-risk situations who come to camp along with adult sponsors, such as their caseworkers, youth agency partners and/or foster parents.
The PEAKS camp program helps youth build resiliency skills through structured experiential learning and positive interactions with adults and youth peers. Camp helps youth enhance feelings of self-worth, build relationship skills, learn to take safe risks, practice problem-solving, and discover their strengths and limitations. Campers then function better in their daily lives and have improved life outcomes. This creates opportunities for youth to develop meaningful relationships with adults, and for sponsors to gain hands-on training for working with youth in an equal partnership.
The PEAKS Adventure incorporates typical camp experiences such as ropes courses, swimming and water activities, creative arts and drama, nature hikes, canoeing, and archery with daily group processing activities and journal writing to help the participants appreciate the emotional impact of the daily activities and overall experience. The groups work together to promote team building, trust and relationships and develop a strong collective identity through shared challenges and achievements.
What makes PEAKS unique?
- PEAKS has more than 30 years of experience successfully transforming the lives of its participants, as demonstrated through extensive pre and post evaluation measures based on the 40 Developmental Assets.
- The PEAKS curriculum is based on research on youth development and experiential learning and draws from established theories on adventure-based counseling, group therapy, and youth-adult partnerships.
- PEAKS carries a 30-year legacy of volunteer staff commitment and support. PEAKS is staffed by trained, experienced, and talented individuals with a variety of different backgrounds and youth services experience with a passion for the PEAKS model and for changing the lives of young people.
- The positive PEAKS camp atmosphere fosters trust, self-reliance, youth/adult partnerships, and constant self-examination.
- PEAKS is designed based on the belief that opportunities for structured experiential learning and positive interaction help develop skills that can be applied to daily life and ultimately improve life outcomes.
- PEAKS is designed for young people who may lack other important developmental opportunities and a sense of normalcy. More often than not, PEAKS is the first and only camp young people will attend. Youth in foster care especially often miss opportunities that promote development, including extra-curricular activities, meaningful friendships, and life milestones.
- Adult participants (sponsors) receive in-depth hands-on training while attending camp. Through PEAKS, TNOYS couples training services with a direct service program for young people.
TNOYS is currently offering PEAKS camp programming for youth who are in foster care in Texas during spring break week at no cost through a contract with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. To register a young person for camp, please contact his or her CPS caseworker. Please contact info@tnoys.org if you have questions.