About ZENO MOUNTAIN FARM

Mission and Values

The goal at Zeno Mountain Farm is simple: We wish to support friendships between people with and without disabilities. To this end, we vigorously maintain the following principles:

• No one, including directors and administrators, is paid or pays to take part in camp.
• Parents of campers are discouraged from making donations.
• We expect our art, film and theatre to be more interesting and beautiful because of the unique people in our community.
• People are invited back year after year to be together.
• We are a community of friends. We are not “staff and clients.” Everyone at camp is expected to support the community to the level of their individual ability.

The Community

People of all ages and abilities are part of Zeno Mountain Farm including people with Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome, law degrees, Autism, a love of art, teaching certificates, Cognitive Delay, carpentry skills, Williams Syndrome, a willingness to dance in public and Spina Bifida.

At camp we get the chance to do activities that would otherwise be impossible without assistance. We get the opportunity to experience and discover the creative and adventurous side of our lives and ourselves.

Our Story

Our group and philosophy grew out of a camp in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, where we would spend a month together each July. In 1993, we started running camps at other locations and times throughout the year. These outside camps became known as pods. From 1995-2007, our group participated in starting pods in Mississippi, Texas, California, Mexico, Guatemala, Florida, Nantucket and Georgia. We would reconvene each summer to renew friendships and discuss our pod adventures. It was really exciting to us all! Camp could exist in other places and at other times besides the summer. We had discovered the joy of taking camp on the road and the adventures that traveling together could bring. It was also cool to share the idea of camp in new areas and with new people.

Cheshire, based in Venice California, became a main camp and in 2003 it’s own non-profit. In its home near the canals and famed muscle beach, we hosted a movie camp (called Cheshire Film Camp), a sports camp, and also a music camp. Camps became more focused on specific projects, and we were able to bring people together who shared interest and talents in these specific areas. Musicians, actors, athletes or simply people who wanted to be musicians, actors or athletes came to the camps.

In the fall of 2008, we started looking for a new site where we could host large camps on the east coast. After searching all over New England, we came upon 274 idyllic acres in Lincoln, Vermont. Situated on the edge of the Green Mountains, the property has sweeping views of farmlands and rolling hills. It is also near lakes, wonderful towns and beautiful scenery. We began building in October 2008, preparing for the first camp, known as Tulgey Wood in June of 2009.

We named the parent organization Zeno Mountain Farm - after the road on which the property sits. It is the home for the Tulgey Wood each summer as well as new camps and reunions throughout the year. ZMF will continue to run the other camps known as Cheshire Film Camp in California, Sports Camp in Florida, Sports Camp in California, Music Camp in California, and Kikotimaal in Guatemala.

Contact Us

By snail mail:
950 Zeno Road
Lincoln Vt 05443

By phone: 802.453.4663

by email:

• Will
• Vanessa
• Peter
• Ila