Summer sleepaway camp is a right of passage for so many young people.

But kids with spinal cord injuries face a whole different set of challenges that often preclude them from participating.

That's where True Grit Camp comes in.

On the campus of Ruckers University in New Brunswick, Camp Grit offers more than just activities.

It offers a chance to belong.

Raven Santana visited the camp and heard the powerful stories of the young people whose lives have been changed there.

Nice.

For most teens, summer means sleepa away camps, dorm room chats, and the freedom of independence.

But for young people living with spinal cord injuries, that sense of freedom can feel impossibly far off until now.

I'm diagnosed a C4C5 quadripolgic.

And I'm really just working on daily activities like putting my shirt on, getting dressed in the mornings, brushing my teeth, which yeah, a lot of people take for granted, but it's the little things that really make a big difference in my life that even if it's just putting my shirt on or like washing my hair this week or whatever it is, just those little accomplishments mean the biggest things to us.

So 20-year-old Micah Mclundon from Chapel Hill, Tennessee is one of nine participants in True Grid Camp, a unique Sleepaway program in partnership with Ruckers University School of Health Professions.

Set on the Ruckers New Brunswick campus, True Grid is more than a camp.

It's rewriting the story of what life after injury can look like.

Now, we're able to accept up to 12 participants and the age range is between 16 and 21.

And the kids are coming from all over the country because like I mentioned, there's not really anything for them at this point um besides us.

So, um the cost is we charge a $50 registration fee and there's no additional cost beyond that.

The program's founder, Cassandra Boyd, says the camp offers far more than just dorm keys and schedules.

It offers a road map for life.

We interview everybody before they come.

we do an evaluation and we really learn what's meaningful to them and that's how we schedule camp and that's how we make our program.

So if we have a kid who wants to try lacrosse again, we put lacrosse on our schedule.

Um we do some things every day altogether like going to breakfast in the dining hall and then we give them opportunities just to hang out and be on a college campus together and go to Starbucks.

Then we do things like yoga.

We do things like swimming.

We give them opportunities to try new things.

To be able to see these teens just light up again is everything to me.

Ruter's lecturer and program co-leader Kira McNair says what participants find here isn't just therapy.

It's team support, a purpose, and a path forward.

They also really appreciated structure.

a lot of them are have a hard time refinding that structure post injury and a lot of things just look like well I go to therapy or I go to school and that's kind of it whereas um one of our participants he used to be a football player and he said like I felt like I was back on the team right I'm getting up in the morning I have something to do I have somewhere to be all day long and I've got my team with me and that was really meaningful so that was something that we wanted to bottle and keep for 18-year-olds Anthony Presto of upstate New York and Isaac Lima of Roselle Park.

The camp delivered far more than just activities.

It delivered hope.

So, I used to be a cheerleader.

And so, while I was at cheer practice, I was doing some stunts and I fell and unfortunately suffered a spinal cord injury.

So, being here, it gave me like that push to say, "Oh, I can do it.

I can go to a college.

I can go to the classrooms."

I was diving through a pool tube and uh I ended up missing it and breaking my neck.

I've only been injured for a year and like 3 months ago, I wouldn't even go to the grocery store by myself.

So, this was like a really big step for me to be in contact with people and talk to people.

Sounds looks like you got some eggs to uh to load up.

Chew Grid's powerhouse team includes nurses, therapists, and peer mentors, some of whom have traveled this road themselves, like camp mentor Josh Banks.

Yeah, just put on a different pair of shoes, you know, to go running, right?

We need a $5,000 at least equipment to go and bike, right?

We need equipment to do anything really.

Just so a camp like Trug is awesome because we have those resources and we share that with others to borrow and use for the time being.

Whether it's learning a new sport, cooking with adaptive tools, or simply bonding over shared experiences, Boyd says True Grit Camp is determined to grow, empowering more young people to build strength, confidence, and the unshakable belief that their future is still full of possibility.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Raven Santana.