Wesley Woods Camp & Retreat will be installing five RV camping sites for volunteers to use while working at the camp thanks to a $43,000 grant from the United Methodist Camp & Retreat Ministries Association.
“The RV sites were the missing piece we needed to be able to host groups like NOMADS,” said Site Director Nicole Holton, referring to the volunteer labor group Nomads On a Mission Active in Divine Service (NOMADS). “Receiving this grant will really help move our ministry forward and continue to improve and maintain our facilities.”
The camp and retreat center in Dowling, Michigan has injected $400k of capital improvements over the last two years, including refurbishing the bathhouse on top of the hill in the cabin area. It was gutted when Site Director Nicole Holton was hired and she helped get the building up and running again with a new roof, showers, stalls, toilets, sinks and a new family/ADA restroom addition. Other recent improvements include roofs for the Chapel, Bathhouse, Daisy Trillium Lodge, Directors house and the north side of the main lodge. Major updates to the Retreat Center are currently underway, including new carpet, new windows, new heating and cooling units, and new shower stalls.
2021 Bath house improvements include new fixtures, paint and the addition of an ADA-accessible family bathroom.
Some of the 2022 Retreat Center improvements include all new windows and shower stalls.
- Bathhouse: $169,000 (roof, repainted throughout, new stalls for toilets and showers, new counters, sinks, toilets, water heater)
The Retreat Center got all new carpet in 2022.
- Roofs: $34,000 (Northside Main Lodge, Director’s House, Daisy/Trillium Lodge-adding ridge vent)
- Retreat Center: $180,00 (new carpet, heating/cooling, showers, windows, painting)
- Other improvements from 2021-2022: Pool House minor renovation; Pool sandblasted and repainted; new pool cover; Firewood removal; Camp Office moved to create more meeting space in the Main Lodge.
As we look forward to welcoming campers this summer, we are happy to have the focus on what camp is all about — growing in faith through a community where everyone belongs, exploring God’s beautiful creation, and making friends.
Lake Huron Retreat Center also received a grant from UMCRM to help fund its new Program and Hospitality Manager position and the launching of new programs and retreats. The goal of the association’s $2.5 million grant program was to enable individual sites and ministries to take one significant step in the 2022 calendar year toward long-term impact and sustainability. We are grateful for these grants and look forward to sharing with you the results of these investments.