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.

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 inevitably transformative years of adolescence, living actively in our society today, and finding ourselves amidst all of that. As much as I cherished my teaching career, the impact I could have on kids was too constrained by the four walls of a classroom.  It was also emotionally unsustainable. I have spent the last few years at home, rebuilding my spirit after leaving teaching, being with my kids through a global pandemic and supporting my wife, who is a frontline provider in the hospital.

In this rebuilding, I had days where the only moment that everything felt okay was something as small as my first savored sip of coffee.  I 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, women's bodies, 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. 😂