Isaiah Magruder was gearing up for the first day of camp as a counselor near Patterson Park when he overheard a familiar reality.
The young camper shared that their family was without a permanent home and had moved several times recently.
It reminded Magruder, 19, that he too had a similar experience.
“I’m really working with kids that have been in my shoes before, and I really got to be there and help them out,” said Magruder, a new counselor who attended Camp St. Vincent himself a decade ago.
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For nearly 120 years, Camp St. Vincent has provided a free, full-day summer camp to children ages 5 through 14 experiencing homelessness in the Baltimore region. And though it has been years since Magruder, now a college student, was first a camper, he said he’s ready to try his chops as a counselor in the same place where he could truly be a kid regardless of his circumstances.
“I know how these kids feel, and they need somebody to be there for them every day,” Magruder said.
St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore, a nonprofit that helps those experiencing hunger, homelessness and poverty in Baltimore, hosts the camp at Patterson Park all day Monday through Friday for eight weeks beginning in June.
The camp relies on counselors and volunteers throughout the summer. Many volunteers come from local high schools, including Mercy High School. Organizers said they’re still looking to fill spots for the second half of camp this year, which runs from July 7 to Aug. 8.
When school’s out, some children lose access to consistent meals and academic enrichment, so Camp St. Vincent aims to fill those gaps. Campers receive breakfast, lunch, snacks and swimsuits for dips in the pool at Patterson Park and transportation from shelters throughout the city and Baltimore County. Part of each day is also devoted to math, reading and other academic instruction.
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But ask Aiden Burris, a 13-year-old camper from Baltimore, and he’d say the big appeal is the pool time, which he likes to enjoy with a handful of close friends at the camp. Burris, who’s in his second summer at the camp, also likes the field trip opportunities like Butler’s Orchard, where they got to pick blueberries — and it doesn’t hurt, he said, that “people here are nice.”
The rest of the summer includes bowling, skating, trips to several museums, including the American Visionary Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Industry. They’ll also make stops at Morgan State University and the University of Maryland, College Park before their end-of-summer celebration in Patterson Park.
Magruder was in elementary school the first time he attended camp in 2013, sporting a bright green shirt. He has fond memories of taking trips to Dave & Buster’s and Hershey Park in Pennsylvania.
Camp, he said, was an outlet “to be away from negative vibes” when his family was navigating homelessness.
It’s also where he gained a mentor in Daimen Poole.
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“When he graduated last year, I shed a tear. This is my guy,” said Poole, a program director at Camp St. Vincent and history teacher at Digital Harbor High School. Magruder graduated from Digital Harbor in 2024.
Poole said he looks at Magruder like one of his sons and is always going to make sure he’s on track, including when he needed to navigate lengthy financial aid forms for college and wanted to get his driving learner’s permit.
Magruder just wrapped his freshman year at Bowie State University, where he’s studying visual communications. He said he’d love to work for the NFL’s visuals team as a way to be a part of a sport he once played and still loves.
At camp, he often submits to the will of the kids, following them into their favorite activities. During one part of an afternoon, he could be calculating his next move in Connect Four. Or in another part, chasing after a kicked soccer ball on the park’s grassy field.
When his group hit the pool, kids bobbed in and out while adjusting their colorful goggles. They yelled joyfully, egging each other on to perform cannonballs into the clear blue water.
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Magruder hopes that as summer comes and goes, kids become more open to enjoy everything even while their life at home can be uncertain.
“It’s still that positive, loving place that you know you could go and you could get anything that you need,” Magruder said.
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