CampOUT Portland is supported by our amazing team of counselors who are all leaders and activists in their own communities - as well as artists in the mediums of theater, singing, dance, photography, beading/clay, fabric, and culinary arts. 

They bring depth of experience working with youth, as they pursue their own dreams & passions in life.
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We have started the leadership program of working with Junior Counselors (entering 10th/11th grades) email with any inquiries about this opportunity. 

Erin Savage, CampOUT founder & Director

I have lived in Portland for 25 years, where I earned my Masters in Teaching from Lewis and Clark College in 2003. Before that, I went to Oberlin College where I majored in Political Science and grew up on 100 acres of land in rural Vermont,  I am joined in this life by my wife and two daughters.

I am passionate about teaching kids the skills they need to find buoyancy as they weather the transformative years of adolescence and living actively in our society.  I seek to guide our youth in finding themselves and their agency amidst the world we live in, today. Discovering their moments of joy is an act of rebellion and resistance in itself. 

In my own life, at times, the only moment everything felt okay was something as small as my first savored sip of coffee.  I have learned to take that moment and expand on it, to anchor to things that fed me, like music and gardening. To use mindfulness practices to heal my nervous system... And from there, I found the space to realize a life long dream: to open an LGBTQ+ summer camp,  With what is happening in our world to BIPOC lives, trans autonomy, and queer rights... the timing could never have been more aligned. 

If you want to help me in this mission - please consider donating to our GoFundMe, If you want to GENEROUSLY contribute to this mission, reach out, I'd love to chat to share why this is a GREAT idea. 😂