The Safety Navigator Receives $287,500 Grant to Launch a Dedicated Hill Country Camp Safety Program
Updated: 2 days ago
We're proud to announce that The Safety Navigator has received a $287,500 grant from the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country (CFTHC). The grant was awarded through the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund to support our Camp Safety programs.
The grant launches a dedicated, locally led camp safety program in the Texas Hill Country. We'll build new resources with camps in the region and test them in the field. Then we'll make them freely available to camps across the country.
Where this started
The Safety Navigator was founded after the July 4, 2025 floods, one of the deadliest flood disasters in Texas history. The tragedy took lives across the Hill Country community, including children and staff at camps along the Guadalupe River.
Texas lawmakers came together to pass new youth camp safety legislation. We built The Safety Navigator to help Hill Country camps, and camps across the country, turn that legislation into practical, real-world action. Our goal is for camp gates to open safely and confidently for summer 2026 and beyond.
What the grant funds
Every program is free for participating camps. The grant funds:
After-action reviews with Hill Country camp leaders at the end of the season, to capture what worked and what needs strengthening
A comprehensive safety training program for camp directors, leadership and seasonal staff, covering material risks such as aquatics, transportation and emergency response
A Transportation Safety Toolkit covering vehicle use, staff driving rules, and vetting bus and charter companies
Improvements to our AI-assisted risk assessment tool, adding region-specific risk categories and controls
A Hill Country Drill Package, with new drills and facilitated tabletop exercises built around region-specific hazards
An AI-powered Emergency Action Plan builder that coaches camps through building a robust, custom emergency response plan
A Summer Content Series capturing and sharing the safety work underway at Hill Country camps
A locally hired Hill Country Program Coordinator, so every camp in the region has one knowledgeable point of contact
Built in the Hill Country, shared with every camp
The approach is deliberate. We'll build and refine with the camps closest to the tragedy that led to our founding, then extend what works to camps nationwide.
Every tool from this grant is designed to work well beyond Texas. That means lessons learned and resources built in the Hill Country will be available to any camp in the country at no extra cost. Hill Country camps become the proving ground for the industry, setting the standard of best practice that camps nationwide can adopt.
"The Hill Country is where this started for us, and we're grateful to be pioneering it here too, alongside the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country. This grant lets us build the industry's best practice safety materials with a community that needs them, so Hill Country camps can lead the response for camps everywhere, not just the recovery."
Charlee Johnson and Marleyna Palin, Co-Founders, The Safety Navigator
"Long-term recovery means preparing communities for what comes next. Camps are an important part of life in the Hill Country. This investment will help protect campers here and make practical safety resources available to camps across the country."
Austin Dickson, CEO, Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country
"The work that The Safety Navigator team has done to assist camps such as my own better prepare and operationalize our safety protocols has been incredible. They have not only joined in at a critical time in our industry with clear easy to use tools and resources but have also shown transparency and a shared commitment to the value and impact of safe and high-quality camp programs. They did this work in collaboration with camps, ensuring that not only was it effective and well done, but also fit into the culture and the environment of camp. It was this willingness to collaborate, listen, build, and work together that made me such a strong advocate of the work they are doing."
Tim Huchton, President and CEO, Mo-Ranch
Get involved
If you lead a Hill Country camp and want to take part, contact us at contact@thesafetynavigator.org. Camps anywhere in the country can join The Safety Navigator Hub for free to get our tools as they launch.
This program was made possible in part by a grant from the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country through the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund.
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