Valley Youth House broke ground Jan. 23 for its new state-of-the-art recreation and education center, the Carter Family Center, at Camp Fowler, Orefield.

Plans for the Carter Family Center were approved Jan. 2, by North Whitehall supervisors.

The new recreation and education center will be about 5,000 square feet in size, and will include the Schamberger STEM Lab as well as an Arts Lab, camp coordinators office, break room, and a storage space - a welcome addition to the extensive programming offered by Valley Youth House at Camp Fowler, according to the news release.

“It’s exciting to see the Carter Family Center project moving forward,” Eric Scheler, vice president of construction at Watson Land Company said. “This facility will complement the recently completed cabin rebuild project and add a vital new education and recreation facility for our youth to utilize during their camp experience.

“The efforts of all those involved are greatly appreciated and the long range planning of Camp Fowler continues to become more in focus.”

Camp Fowler was established in 2004 and offers a variety of programs that use nature’s restorative and stress-reducing benefits to provide therapeutic outdoor experiences for young people.

In addition to the summer programs, Valley Youth House also rents out the camp throughout the year to different organizations such as Pennsylvania State Police Troop M, Camp Cadet, and Lehigh Valley Health Network’s Camp Red Jacket.

“Valley Youth House has been a mainstay in our community for the past 50 years in providing innovative ways to help children and families become stronger,” Tom Harrington, president and executive director of Valley Youth House said. “Camp Fowler provides fun, restorative outdoor education programs for children from all walks of life to explore the outdoors and grow physically, mentally and emotionally.

“The Carter Family Center will provide our team with additional in-door, year-round space to work with groups of children, including local school groups, church groups and Scout troops, in providing these exciting educational programs.”

At the end of 2021, through the generous donation of her home in South Carolina, Valley Youth House received a lead gift from Tammy Carter to help with the campaign to build the Carter Family Center.

The vision for the Carter Family Center is to have a recreation and education center to round out services for Valley Youth House’s young campers.

The agency envisions a space for indoor activities and educational programming to complement their enrichment programs.

“We are thrilled to help celebrate this exciting milestone on the journey to bring the dream of the Carter Family Center at Camp Fowler to life,” shared James Hoolehan, president of Penntex Construction, the Carter Family Center’s construction management partner who is donating project oversight services in support of the effort.

“Our team is quite literally ready to dig in and get to work preparing this dynamic recreation center to serve the youth of our community.

“We are grateful to our many trusted construction partners and vendors who did not hesitate in stepping up beside us to go the extra mile in their commitment of talent and resources to help ensure this new vital community resource could become a reality.”