Free Sierra Camp Gives Nevada Foster Teens a Week to Just Be Kids

Camp RennerVation's teen session brought foster and at-risk youth from Las Vegas to the Lake Tahoe wilderness this month, pairing firefighters, hockey players and hot air balloons with a bigger goal: building confidence at no cost to families.

A Week Away From Everything Else

For a group of Nevada teenagers in foster care or otherwise navigating tough circumstances, this past week looked nothing like an ordinary Tuesday. They traded routines for a stretch of wilderness above Lake Tahoe, spending five days at a camp built entirely around them. The teen session, held July 7 through 11, welcomed young people in grades eight through twelve, with a ride arranged for those coming up from the Las Vegas area so transportation never stood between a camper and a bunk.

The nonprofit behind the week, the RennerVation Foundation, was founded by actor Jeremy Renner and now runs the camp under the leadership of CEO and President Kym Renner. The organization's stated goal is simple: give foster and at-risk kids a stretch of time where they can, in the foundation's words, feel safe, connected and simply free to be a kid. For families who often juggle case workers, school transitions and shifting living situations, a week where none of that is the focus can matter more than it sounds.

Firefighters, Hockey Sticks and a Hot Air Balloon

The daily schedule leaned hard into hands-on, memorable experiences rather than a typical camp itinerary. Firefighters from Professional Firefighters of Northern Nevada walked campers through a forcible entry demonstration, showing the real tools and techniques crews use on emergency calls. Nearby, the Great Reno Balloon Race set up tethered rides so teens could see the Sierra from above, and players from the Tahoe Knight Monsters, the ECHL affiliate that shares a parent club with the Vegas Golden Knights, ran slap shot and stick handling drills on site.

Beyond the big-ticket activities, campers rotated through film production workshops where they wrote and screened short projects, a financial literacy track aimed at teens aging out of foster care, an introduction to careers in the space industry, and vision-boarding sessions to help them set personal goals. The mix was intentional: a week that feels fun on the surface while quietly building skills a teenager will actually use once camp ends.

Support That Goes Beyond a Fun Week

Underneath the activity list, the camp is built around four areas the foundation treats as core to the program: social and emotional development, everyday life skills, outdoor survival basics, and mindfulness paired with conflict resolution. Those aren't add-ons: for kids who have moved between homes or schools, learning to name a feeling or de-escalate a disagreement can matter as much as any campfire tradition.

That approach extended to on-site mental health support. Vehicles of Change, a mobile program run through Carson Tahoe Health, brought play-based therapeutic activities directly to camp, meeting teens where they were rather than asking them to seek out help elsewhere. It's a model built for young people who may not have easy access to consistent counseling during the rest of the year.

Three Summers In, and Still Growing

This year marks the third time the foundation has run Camp RennerVation, and the program has expanded to two sessions to reach more kids. Along with the teen week at Lake Tahoe, a second session for younger campers in grades three through seven runs August 3 through 7 at an outdoor education site in Portola, California, about fifty minutes north of Reno. Combined, the two weeks are set to serve well over 200 foster and at-risk youth from Nevada and the surrounding region this summer.

None of it costs a family anything. The foundation covers the roughly $1,400 per-camper cost through individual and corporate sponsorships, meaning a spot at camp depends only on need, not on what a household can afford. For a program built on trust, keeping that barrier out of the equation is part of the point.

How Nevadans Can Help a Program Like This Keep Going

Programs like Camp RennerVation run on the same thing most youth-serving nonprofits across Nevada need more of: people willing to show up, whether that means sponsoring a camper's spot, volunteering skills for a single day, or simply spreading the word to a family who could use it. A single sponsorship covers one teenager's full week, food, lodging, activities and all.

If this story resonates, consider it a reminder that supporting youth in Nevada doesn't always require a formal program of your own. Sometimes it looks like backing a camp session, mentoring a young person through an existing local organization, or checking in with a school or community center about where volunteers are needed most this summer. Every one of those small acts adds up to the kind of stability that helped make this past week possible for a group of Nevada teens who needed exactly that.

What Filled the Days at This Year's Teen Camp

The five-day teen session paired big, memorable moments with quieter skill-building, giving campers a mix of adventure and real support.

1. Firefighter demonstration: Professional Firefighters of Northern Nevada showed campers a live forcible entry demonstration using real emergency tools.
2. Tethered balloon rides: The Great Reno Balloon Race gave teens an aerial view of the Sierra from a tethered hot air balloon.
3. Hockey drills with pros: Players from the Tahoe Knight Monsters ran slap shot and stick handling sessions on site.
4. Film production workshop: Campers wrote, shot and screened their own short film projects during the week.
5. Financial literacy for transitional youth: A dedicated track helped older teens build money skills ahead of aging out of foster care.
6. Space industry exploration: Campers got an introduction to career paths in the growing space sector.
7. Mobile mental health support: Vehicles of Change brought play-based therapeutic programming directly to the camp grounds.
8. Vision-boarding sessions: Teens set personal goals for the year ahead through guided vision-board activities.

← More from the Nevada Youth Alliance blog