About Fairwinds
Fairwinds Family Camp is a week-long camp experience for families with a child(ren) who identifies as trans, non-binary, genderqueer, genderless, or otherwise gender diverse. Parents/guardians, siblings, grandparents, and friends are all welcome to join in the fun. Fairwinds provides lodging, food, and lots of activities.
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Families join together for meals. In the mornings, adults can opt into groups that focus on discussing different topics regarding their children's journeys while all kids are off playing with our awesome staff. In the afternoons, there is time for families to spend together at the lake, field, archery range, walking in the woods, and much more!
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​Families stay together in private cabins with bathrooms. See accommodations for more information.
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Fairwinds will had its inaugural summer in August 2023.
What's in a Name?
"Fair winds" is a nautical term describing winds that help push a vessel in the direction it wants to go. We want our campers to feel like our camp community gives them the fair winds needed on their journey. The phrase "May you have fair winds and following seas" is sometimes said when a sailor sets out on a voyage.
Location
Fairwinds leases a wonderful lakefront camp in Central Maine. It is located on one of the largest lakes in the region, and has many acres of waterfront, fields, tennis courts, as well as beautifully restored buildings dating back to the early 1900s.
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The exact location/address is accessible for registered campers only, for the privacy of all of our campers.
Explore Maine
If you're lucky enough to have time before or after coming to Fairwinds, we recommend getting out to enjoy the beautiful oceanfront towns, lakes, mountains, lighthouses, and delicious food that make Maine famous. From the queer-friendly beach town of Ogunquit to the incredible rocky vistas of Acadia National Park to the summit of Mt. Katahdin (the end--or beginning--of the Appalachian Trail), you'll see it's clear why Maine is known as "Vacationland!" Click to go to visitmaine.com.
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Founder & Director
Nick Teich, PhD, LCSW is the founder, owner, and director of Fairwinds Family Camp. He is an executive coach and consultant for summer camp directors from all over North America.
After being told he could not return to a volunteer summer camp because of his gender, Nick founded Harbor Camps (formerly "Camp Aranu'tiq") in 2009, the world's first summer camp for trans & non-binary youth. He spent 13 years as the director and CEO, during which time the camps served thousands of kids at its home in New Hampshire and beyond. In 2013 he added family camp long weekends, and has loved doing them ever since. He continues to work for Harbor Camps in an internal consulting capacity. He is thrilled to have the chance to continue the family camp excitement at Fairwinds.
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Prior to founding Harbor Camps, Nick was a camp leadership team member and counselor at the camp he attended as a child in Southern Maine. Nick has spent every summer at camp since 1993, in one form or another. He currently serves on the board of directors of Harbor Camps as well as the American Camp Association - New England. Nick holds a masters degree in social work from Boston College and a PhD in social policy from Brandeis University. Nick lives in the Boston, Mass. area with his wife and children.
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