Southampton Fresh Air Home

Southampton Fresh Air Home offers activities such as swimming, sailing, relays, tennis, basketball, baseball, dodgeball, football, and hockey, along with drawing, painting, music, dance, drama, games, and cooking. Campers also use modern computers and iPads and go on trips to ocean beaches, sporting events, museums, concerts, carnivals, zoos, aquariums, farms, and theater. The program includes alumni days and weekends with a baseball game, a movie, and a luncheon in the city, as well as a Holiday Party in December with lunch, games, and time together.

• Ages: 8–18 years old
• Schedule: Each summer there are two three-week sessions, plus a one-week program for younger children who have never been away from home and for children who require a higher level of nursing care such as tube feeding.
• Price: Donations and tickets to fundraising events are non-refundable. Camp deposits are non-refundable. Financial aid is available for all levels of need, from minimal need to 100% of camp fees, and SFAH provides over $250,000 in financial aid awards to approximately 100 of the neediest children every summer. Typically, 75% of campers require some amount of financial aid to attend the program.

Southampton Fresh Air Home is a nonprofit residential center offering summer camp sessions and year-round programs for children and young adults with physical disabilities. The mission of Southampton Fresh Air Home is to provide an enriching, recreational and educational experience and to support physical, emotional, and educational development with the goal of fostering self-esteem, maturity, and independence through a broadly balanced program, while providing families with a respite. The program is one of the few residential camp facilities in the eastern United States designed specifically for children with physical disabilities and serves current campers ages 8–18 and young adult alumni who have aged out of the summer camp program.

The campus is fully accessible and state-of-the-art, with four climate-controlled dormitories and a well-equipped Computer Center, and it includes an iPad Program for campers, especially for the most severely challenged children. The program offers more than 100 fun, adaptive activities each summer, an upgraded fleet of wheelchair vans, exciting off-site trips, and an annual Color War. Nutritious, delicious meals are provided with options for all dietary needs.

The environment is described as warm and supportive, led by caring, highly trained staff, with an on-site registered nurse available 24 hours a day. Off-season weekends during the school year are offered free of charge with transportation provided, and the program has expanded off-season programming with a year-round Assistant Camp/Program Director as it moves from a “summer+” model to a year-round resource for youth with physical disabilities. The Holiday Party in December brings together as many as 150 campers, siblings, and parents at the Home to have lunch, play games, and be together.

Southampton Fresh Air Home has been serving youth with physical disabilities since 1901 and has welcomed thousands of campers over more than 125 years. The program includes an Alumni Program with alumni days and weekends and alumni acting as mentors in cabins. The leadership team includes Executive Director Thomas Naro, Camp Director David Billingham, Event Coordinator Patricia Lynch, Assistant Camp Director Kiara Esteves, Program Manager Emma Herrmann, Infirmary and Camper Care Coordinator Eilis Welsh, and Facilities Coordinator Terrell Jones. No child is denied an opportunity to be a camper because of their inability to pay.

Last updated May 30, 2026.