ABOUT CAMP ARANZAZU

What is Camp Aranzazu? | Who attends Camp Aranzazu? |

 Why a camp for those with special needs? | History | Where is Camp Aranzazu? |

 Board of Directors | Board Officers 

WHAT IS CAMP ARANZAZU?

Camp Aranzazu (pronounced Ah ran' zah zoo) is a not-for-profit, year-round camp facility specially designed to serve the needs of people with chronic illnesses or disabilities. The barrier-free facility features paved walkways to assist wheelchair travel, specialized equipment to enable maximum participation in water sports and other physical activities, as well as a medical facility for campers requiring daily treatments and medications.

The camp seeks to create and maintain a partnership between the campers and the land that preserves and protects the existing habitat for native and endangered species of plants and animals, and complements the history of the area and local community. Many community partners have joined together to help make the camp experience extraordinary and unique from any other camp program. Some of these community partners include the Rockport Center for the Arts, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife, and the The University of Texas Marine Science Institute. 

WHO ATTENDS CAMP ARANZAZU?

Camp Aranzazu welcomes organizations that sponsor camps for children and young adults with conditions including cancer, muscular dystrophy, asthma, diabetes, kidney disease, head and spinal cord injuries, heart defects, cerebral palsy and many more. Adult special needs groups are also included during the non-summer months.

Camp Aranzazu hosts many organizations at its camp facilities, including the following agencies:

---

 WHY A CAMP FOR THOSE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS?

The camp serves 42 South Texas counties, a 45,300 square mile area with 1.3 million persons with disabilities. No other special needs camp of this type exists in South Texas thus the need for Camp Aranzazu. The closest facility of this type is located 200 miles inland to the north of Corpus Christi, making travel lengthy and expensive for fragile children. In addition, other special needs camps have very little available space for camping programs from South Texas as they are full of campers from their own geographic areas.

Dr. William Allen, Chief of Staff at Driscoll Children's Hospital, asserts,
"The medical community is very supportive of Camp Aranzazu.  Nowhere else can
we get our children the kind of services that we get at Camp Aranzazu."

"As soon as I read about the camp, I immediately called the director, Tammie Shelton, and within a month, had set up a camp for Nicholas and the other children with Autism to attend a session. Simple things that thousands of children do every summer, but as a child with a disability he was denied. I am forever grateful to the staff of Camp Aranzazu and to the people who have helped make this camp a reality for so many children with disabilities who would otherwise be turned away." - Denise Hazen-Aspire Academy whose son Nicholas has Autism.

Young Rodrigo was tending sheep in the Basque region of Spain when a spiritual vision suddenly appeared. Perched in a menacing thorn bush, a beautiful lady holding an infant in her arms appeared before him. "Aranzan Zu!" he cried out, "You, in the thorns!"

Rodrigo's vision that summer day in 1469 became known as Our Lady of Aranzazu. A shrine was built on the site and the word Aranzazu came to mean a spiritual place requiring a difficult path to reach.

In 1746, Captain Joaquin Orobio y Basterra was commissioned to explore a lonely section of the western Gulf of Mexico. In the course of his travels he discovered a hidden cove thick with thorns from native coastal brush and appropriately named the bay Aranzazu. Pioneers and settlers followed and, over the years, Aranzazu evolved into Aransas.

We have adopted the name Aranzazu, and what it represents, for this place that will serve those who have difficult paths before them physical disabilities, chronic illnesses and terminal diseases. At Camp Aranzazu they will find respect, love and freedom from the obstacles that challenge them so that they may enjoy the independence so many take for granted.

---

  WHERE IS CAMP ARANZAZU?

The camp is conveniently located on FM 1781 six miles from downtown Rockport, Texas, on Copano Bay at Live Oak Point. The camp comprises 86 of the most unique acres in the area, 25 of which are on the water-front with wetlands, and 61 acres are elevated and wooded, capturing gently blowing Gulf breezes. The camp boasts one of the highest points in Aransas County with an elevation of 37 feet. Camp Aranzazu's location was selected based on its proximity to water and to the population it will serve. Strategically located just 30 miles from Corpus Christi, the camp can serve all types of children from as far north as Houston, extending west to San Antonio and south to the southernmost tip of the state, while keeping campers close to a major medical facility, Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi.

---

 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Tom Forney, President

Mr. Forney is the founder and president of Camp Aranzazu.  The camp is established on a piece of property he and his wife Holly purchased in 1998 and donated to the camp in November 2004.  He was a founding partner of The Maxwell Company in 1988 which later reorganized into the SpawMaxwell Company in 1998.  In December 2004, Mr. Forney left SpawMaxwell to create Gemelos Investments, Inc. where he serves as a partner. He recently formed Forney Construction where he provides services for medical and commercial construction projects. Mr. Forney also provides construction consulting services for a variety of nonprofit projects. Mr. Forney is a dedicated volunteer for Faith in Practice where he recently assisted in raising the funds and oversaw the construction of Casa de Fe. Casa de Fe is a free shelter for indigent families to stay in while seeking medical care from medical missionaries in Antigua, Guatemala. He was also a 2010 recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Service.

Alison Leland McKinney
Political Science Instructor
University of Houston and
Texas Southern University
Houston, Texas

George Strickhausen, IV
Developer, The Preserve
Rockport, Texas

Rona Train
Swiff-Train Company
Corpus Christi, Texas

BOARD OFFICERS

Tom L. Forney
President/CEO

Daryl Allen
Vice-President

James R. Wilkinson
Treasurer

Tama Brooks Klosek
Secretary