KHA Summer Rise 2026: More Than a Summer Camp

Keeping Hopes Alive created Summer Rise 2026 with one central belief: when young people are given a safe environment, positive exposure, mental health support, mentorship, and opportunities to discover new interests, they begin to see more possibilities for their lives.

Summer Rise was not designed to be a traditional summer camp.

Throughout the summer, Baltimore-area youth were exposed to career-building workshops, creative outlets, therapeutic support, mentorship, physical activity, field trips, and experiences designed to build confidence, life skills, emotional wellness, and positive relationships.

Our mission at Keeping Hopes Alive is centered around helping youth and families find value within themselves while providing a safe and supportive environment to overcome mental health challenges. We believe that mental health support does not always have to happen sitting in an office.

Sometimes therapy looks like talking with someone who understands you. Sometimes healing happens through art, physical activity, learning a trade, discovering a talent, being mentored by a successful professional, or simply having the opportunity to be a child in a safe environment.

That philosophy became the foundation of Summer Rise 2026.

Summer Rise 2026 Experiences & Workshops

Sky Zone Timonium: Recreation, Movement & Positive Social Interaction

We kicked off our summer programming at Sky Zone Timonium on July 6 with a 90-minute group experience for approximately 50 youth.

This wasn’t only about having fun. Recreation gives young people a healthy outlet for stress and energy while creating opportunities to build friendships, interact positively with peers, and simply enjoy being kids.

For some young people, having access to safe recreational experiences and a positive community can be just as important as the structured programming surrounding them.

KHA Contractors × C-Cubed Contracting: Building Careers With Their Hands

Through our partnership with C-Cubed Contracting, youth participated in a hands-on construction and engineering experience.

The program introduced participants to construction safety, tools, blueprint basics, project planning, budgeting, teamwork, leadership, creative design, and business concepts.

Instead of only telling children that successful careers are possible, we wanted them to actually experience different industries.

The workshop also incorporated teamwork, communication, problem-solving, confidence, and emotional intelligence, skills that are valuable whether a young person eventually chooses construction, engineering, entrepreneurship, or an entirely different career.

Our goal was for a child to leave thinking, “I could actually do this one day.”

Peace in Printing × Most Trusted Printing & Designs: Creativity as a Therapeutic Outlet

Our Peace in Printing workshop introduced youth to the world of printing, design, creativity, and entrepreneurship.

Young people were able to learn entry-level business and printing concepts while practicing attention to detail, listening, teamwork, confidence, and creative expression.

This workshop represented an important part of our philosophy: positive outlets can also become career pathways.

Art and creativity give children another way to express thoughts and emotions that they may not always know how to communicate verbally. At the same time, exposing them to the business behind printing and design allows them to understand that creativity can potentially become a profession or business.

Cuts & Confidence × Mark Cut My Hair: Barbering, Mentorship & Self-Esteem

On July 12, KHA partnered with Mark Cut My Hair for our Cuts & Confidence experience.

Youth were introduced to barbering and grooming while also learning about confidence, goal-setting, self-esteem, mentorship, career development, and positive peer interaction.

The purpose went beyond learning how to cut hair.

Barbering can be a trade, a business, a creative outlet, and a career. We wanted our young people to see another legitimate pathway to entrepreneurship while learning from someone experienced in the profession.

The “confidence” component was equally important. We wanted young people walking away understanding that how they see themselves matters just as much as the skill they were learning.

DGTL University: Turning Creativity Into Opportunity

Our work with DGTL University introduced youth to possibilities within photography, videography, podcasting, content creation, digital media, and entrepreneurship.

Creative media is already a major part of the world our young people live in. Instead of allowing them to only consume content, we want to teach them that they can become the photographers, videographers, producers, podcasters, entrepreneurs, and creators behind it.

The programming focused not only on technical creativity but also leadership, portfolios, social skills, mentorship, behavioral regulation, workforce readiness, and entrepreneurial thinking.

It is another example of KHA connecting mental wellness with real-world development.

Baltimore Orioles Game at Camden Yards: Creating Memories & Expanding Experiences

We closed out the Summer Rise experience on August 5 at Camden Yards for the Baltimore Orioles game against the Los Angeles Angels.

Our youth were able to experience the excitement of a Major League Baseball game together and end the summer surrounded by their peers and the KHA community.

There were smiles, laughter, excitement, and memories that we hope our young people carry with them long after camp.

Experiences like these matter because childhood should include moments of joy.

Our work focuses heavily on mental health, personal development, career exposure, and life skills, but we also believe children deserve opportunities to simply have fun, experience something different, and make positive memories.

The Bigger Story: Prevention Through Exposure

The bigger story behind Summer Rise is prevention through exposure.

Baltimore has incredibly talented, intelligent, creative young people. But talent cannot reach its full potential without opportunity, guidance, support, and exposure.

We cannot control every environment a young person will encounter, but we can intentionally create environments where they feel safe, supported, challenged, valued, and exposed to something greater.

That’s what Keeping Hopes Alive is trying to build.

We want a young person to experience construction and realize they could become an engineer.

We want another child to pick up clippers and discover a passion for barbering and entrepreneurship.

We want another to learn printing and design and realize their creativity has value.

We want another to hold a camera and realize they could have a career in media.

And we want all of them to understand that asking for help, expressing emotions, receiving therapy, and taking care of their mental health are signs of growth, not weakness.

Summer Rise 2026 combined therapy, mentorship, recreation, career development, creativity, and community under one umbrella.

Our goal isn’t simply to keep children occupied during the summer.

Our goal is to help them discover who they can become.

At Keeping Hopes Alive, our philosophy remains:

“Your thoughts become your reality.”

If we can help Baltimore’s young people think differently about themselves, their abilities, their mental health, and their future, we believe we can help them begin creating a different reality.

To learn more about Keeping Hopes Alive and its work with youth and families, visit Keeping Hopes Alive. Readers can also explore the organization’s YouTube videos and Summer Rise content or find Keeping Hopes Alive on Google Maps to learn more about the organization and its community presence.