On 23 August, the Foundation for Good Initiatives’ 2025 summer camp came to a close. In the heart of Masuria, 17 young people from several residential care facilities spent a week learning how to be part of a group, how to talk about emotions, and how to build safe relationships. It was a time that genuinely strengthened our beneficiaries’ sense of agency and emotional balance.

Harmony by the Water’s Edge

From day one, our aim was to create a space where every participant felt safe and seen—especially as the young people had arrived from different parts of Poland. We therefore set a shared daily rhythm with time for art therapy, sport, conversation, and rest—one that helped organise emotions and gave the group a reassuring sense of predictability.

Within just a few days, participants who had been strangers began to understand one another better and act as a single team—during group games, around the campfire, and in evening talks. Camp highlights— a kayaking trip, meeting alpacas, and outdoor team-building—were more than entertainment. They became a pretext for building relationships, lowering barriers, and discovering a common language. In final surveys, over 70% rated the group games and activities very highly—the ones that let them be together without pressure, at their own pace.

Setting a Course for Better Relationships

There were also tougher moments that needed careful handling so everyone felt heard and understood. Daily art-therapy sessions helped: participants could gain a clearer picture of themselves—their emotions, tensions, and ways of coping. Not everyone warmed to this format right away, but fully half of the group said the workshops helped them better understand what they were experiencing.

Another crucial factor was the stance of mature, responsible adults who knew what they were doing and watched over the group. The staff consciously modelled behaviours that foster dialogue and attentiveness, enabling the young people to learn how to resolve conflicts safely—through conversation and respect. It’s a quiet approach, demanding self-discipline, but remarkably effective when working with groups of adolescents.

A Well-Matched Crew of Responsible Adults

It’s worth noting that in residential care facilities, one adult is responsible for an average of 14 children. At our camp, the ratio was different—and it truly made a difference. Seventeen young people were cared for by seven adults: an interdisciplinary team of clinically experienced therapists, youth workers, a camp leader, and appropriately trained members of our Foundation. These are people able to respond to the group’s real needs—including those that go unspoken. They knew when to step in—and when simply to stay close and allow emotions to surface.

Children and young people in foster care often carry experiences that forced them to grow up too soon. That’s why it is so important that, on trips like this, they have adults beside them whom they can trust—staff who not only organise the day but are attentive, calm, and experienced. Presence, attentiveness, and calm—these were the words most frequently mentioned in the closing surveys, and that is of immense value to us.

Post-camp surveys make it clear that the staff were what participants remembered best. As many as 93% named them as the camp’s greatest strength, and 71% said they could always count on the adults. As one participant put it, “you can tell they really want us to be happy.” In the end, over 90% rated the trip very positively. The most frequently cited pluses? The atmosphere, the people, shared activities—and the space to be themselves.

FDI Summer Camp: a Harbour on a Long Voyage Towards Independence

At the Foundation for Good Initiatives, we don’t treat camps as standalone events, but as stages within a multi-element support pathway. The FDI Summer Camp is part of a long-term process of supporting young people from children’s homes. The trip sits within our year-round educational and therapeutic programme, which includes psychotherapy and tutoring scholarships, one-to-one and group support, workshops, and programmes for developing social and vocational competencies. Our goal is not a one-off intervention, but steady presence—so that young people can build lives beyond the care system with a sense of agency and safety.

This summer reaffirmed for us that this path makes sense.

Your Support—the Wind in FDI’s Sails

Delivering such a programme would not be possible without the generosity of our donors and business partners. We are grateful to all the companies and individuals who support us financially and trust our mission. Thanks to you, we were able to provide professional care, safe conditions, and a programme that genuinely supports emotional development—so that, for a few days, the young people could feel safe, valued, and, quite simply, happy.

If your company would like to join the Foundation for Good Initiatives’ partners and help us create further spaces for real change, we invite you to get in touch: https://fdi.org.pl/en/for-business/