Letter to Families
Greetings to Our Family and Friends of Camp Loyaltown!
We are so excited to be in the midst of our application process – this means that camp is in the works! Camp Loyaltown has been so empty, and we can’t wait for it to come back to life with the wonderful people who come up to camp. We are so excited to walk around the paths seeing folks swimming in the pool, singing around a fire, having dance parties, creating crafts, and putting on plays for everyone to see! Nothing beats seeing the look on the faces of campers when they are interacting with one another and enjoying camp activities together.
We also want to let you know that the Camp Loyaltown team understands how stressful the application – and waiting – process can be, and we want you to know that we are here to answer any questions and to assist families and care managers through the process if need be. Weekly virtual Q&A sessions are being planned, as are meetings to brainstorm activities and ideas for the upcoming season. There will be multiple posts to social media and updates to the website every week – you deserve to know what is going on in the camp office, and we invite you to be a part of these sessions!
The hope is that these sessions will bring the camp community closer together and prepare us for an excellent summer. We’ve also added some fantastic people to our team, with a brief description of their duties and responsibilities below. Do not hesitate to reach out to the appropriate staff, and we’ll be happy to speak with you regarding any questions you may have.
With the warmest regards and see you soon,
Your Camp Loyaltown Team: Savita, Tevin, Suzanne, Maria, Yesika, Darius and Gary
Savita Sharma – Director of Family Support Services
Savita is our Director of Family Support Services and oversees the camp, recreation/respite and Self- Direction services programs. Savita is involved in developing partnerships within the agency and outreach to many other agencies including the American Camping Association and international organizations to enable Camp Loyaltown to be a leader in the field. During the winter months Savita is based in Plainview and visits camp regularly while also traveling to meet and hire staff and build relationships with colleges and schools. During the summer months Savita is based at camp and always enjoys participating in activities with the people on camp. Please contact Savita if you have questions regarding the overall operations of camp or if you feel you need to escalate any matter. She can be reached at ssharma@citizens-inc.org or 516-293-2026 ext 1450.
Tevin Gilfillian – Assistant Director of Camp
Tevin is our Assistant Director and oversees the day to day operations of camp and overall wellbeing of people at camp. He is based out of Plainview during the year, but can often be found at our respite sessions! Tevin has been with Camp Loyaltown since 2017 in the capacity of a camp counselor then steadily grew his responsibilities to where they are today. Tevin believes that “supporting families and campers is Camp Loyaltown’s priority”.
For any questions regarding respite or summer camp enrollment Tevin can be reached tgilfillian@citizens-inc.org or 516-293-2016 ext 5165.
Suzanne Gabler, RN – Nurse Manager
Suzanne is our Nurse Manager at camp who runs health center and makes sure that we are prepared for the medical and health needs of every person that comes to camp. Suzanne oversees our nurses and health center assistants and ensures the organization of the health center. She is based out of Hunter year-round!
For any medical questions or concerns, she can be reached at sgabler@citizens-inc.org or 518-263-4242 ext 125
Maria Quezada – Behavior Intervention Specialist
Maria is our Behavior Intervention Specialist and works with people who come to camp that may experience challenging behaviors and staff who may struggle being away from home. Maria is another member of the team based out of Plainview, but she makes it a point to get to respite weekends so we can support more people on camp.
For any questions or concerns regarding behavior plans or mental health, she can be reached at mquezada@citizens-inc.org.
Deidre Dorsey – Senior Program Coordinator of Quality Assurance and Compliance
Deidre is our Senior Program Coordinator of Quality Assurance and Compliance and ensures that the team and camp as a whole are in compliance with regulations from the various regulatory bodies and agency policies and procedures. Like Kyle and Tevin, she is based in Plainview but can be found at camp for respite from time to time.
For any questions regarding regulations, policies and procedures, or incident management, she can be reached at ddorsey@citizens-inc.org.
Yesika Richards – Program Coordinator of Training and Development
Yesika is our Program Coordinator of Training and Development whose role it is to ensure that all of our staff are trained so that they can provide the safest, most fulfilling experience for people who come to camp, and oversees much of the staff that work closest with people who come to camp. Yesika is also based out of Hunter year-round, but is down in Plainview every so often to spend time working with the team.
For any questions regarding training and orientation processes, or specific insight related to your family member to ensure a better camp experience, she can be reached at yrichards@citizens-inc.org or 518-263-4242 ext 117.
Gary Truesdell – Maintenance Supervisor
Gary is our Maintenance Supervisor and takes care of the entire grounds at camp. He can fix or build just about anything – he even cut us our own tree for the holidays! Gary is based at Hunter year round.
Please contact Savita if you have concerns regarding the grounds or facilities.
You can read more about our growing full time team here: