Campers and counselors in the early years, all looking up at the sky together
Our story · Since 1981

Four decades of the best week of summer.

It started with 35 campers and one doctor who believed kids with bleeding disorders deserved real summer camp. It's been growing ever since.

About the name

Hemophilia, spelled backwards.

Ailihpomeh is hemophilia flipped around, because at camp, a bleeding disorder doesn't get to run the show. Here it's just part of who you are, and everybody gets it.

HEMOPHILIA
flip it
AILIHPOMEH
How it started

From 35 campers to a Texas tradition.

The short version of a long, happy story.

1981
It all starts Dr. Keith Hoots of the Gulf States Hemophilia Clinic in Houston organizes the first week-long summer camp in Texas for boys with hemophilia and other bleeding disorders. 35 campers come to Camp Lutherhill in La Grange.
A first
Texas's first special-needs camp Camp Ailihpomeh becomes the first camp for children with special needs in Texas.
1991
A home of our own After a few moves, camp finds its permanent home at Camp John Marc in Meridian, Texas, built for kids with chronic illnesses.
Today
Still growing Six hemophilia treatment centers across Texas work together, and about 130 boys come to camp every summer.
The scrapbook

Big hair. Tall socks. Same camp magic.

A few snapshots from camp's early years. The shorts got longer, but the cabin crews, campfires and inside jokes haven't changed a bit.

Buddies on the red steps, from camp's early years
Buddies on the red steps
Making a new friend, from camp's early years
Making a new friend
Same cabins we use today, from camp's early years
Same cabins we use today
Cabin crew, from camp's early years
Cabin crew
Striking a pose, from camp's early years
Striking a pose
Look what we caught!, from camp's early years
Look what we caught!
Morning stretches, from camp's early years
Morning stretches
Hay ride at Camp Peniel, from camp's early years
Hay ride at Camp Peniel
Meeting a furry friend, from camp's early years
Meeting a furry friend
Then & now

Some things change. The good stuff doesn't.

Treatment has come a long way since 1981. What hasn't changed: kids learning they can do hard things, together.

An infusion under the pavilion in the early yearsTHEN
Campers learning at Med EdNOW
Learning to infuse Infusions used to happen out under the pavilion. Today every cabin has Med Ed, where campers learn from our nurses and cheer each other on toward a Big Stick Award.
Campers roasting marshmallows at an early campfireTHEN
A cabin cooking dinner over an open fire on Cookout NightNOW
Dinner over the fire Marshmallows on sticks started it. Now every cabin cooks its own dinner over an open fire on Cookout Night.
Why we do it

Mission, goals & vision.

Everything we do at camp comes back to these.

Our mission To serve the needs of boys from age seven to seventeen with bleeding disorders, providing a camping experience for a group of children who have traditionally been excluded from other summer camp programs. Camping with other kids in a natural outdoor setting strengthens each child's ability to cope with the daily physical and emotional challenges of a chronic illness.
Our goals To educate children about their bleeding disorder and its management, to give them a rare chance to come together and share their challenges and triumphs, and to build a strong foundation through the relationships made at camp.
Our vision A place where boys throughout Texas meet and build strong relationships with other boys with bleeding disorders, creating an extra support system for kids living with a lifelong condition.
The next chapter

Help write what comes next.

Camp keeps going because volunteers give their summers and donors make sure no eligible camper is ever turned away.