Staff Housing

One of the unique things about Ironwood is that we provide housing for all of our staff. Since we are “in the middle of nowhere” and there is not an abundance of housing available, on-site housing with a one to two-minute work commute increases our ability to serve campers and gives back family time. Knowing that all the staff needed to clean, maintain, and do the program are nearby makes the camper experience wonderful. Think of it as a 831-acre cruise ship on huge sandy sea. Everything you need is right here!

In order to figure out how many staff we need, we count the number of camper days (one camper here for overnight and three meals) and work out a ratio of 1 resident staff for every 750 camper days.  In 2022 we grew by more than 3000 camper days, which means we need to add four resident staff. Many times a family only counts as a full time equivalent of 1.5 because mom many times works part time.  All that to say, the growth from last year requires two to three more homes to have enough staff housing.  

In the past 10 to 15 years, our growth has ebbed and flowed but never totally filled our available staff homes. We try to stay ahead of our housing needs, because staff homes take awhile to build and are harder to fund. Last year we figured we were on a growth track and had a goal to add seven homes in 10 years to cover the growth that we anticipated. The growth happened faster than we thought, and soon we will be saying no to groups, not because of not enough room in the dining room or cabins but because we don’t have enough staff . . .  and the reason we don’t have enough staff is because every staff member needs a home. We are in a dilemma! We hope to build two homes this year and three in the next two years. It does not seem possible, but I also know that if God wants to provide it is no problem for Him. 

Join us in praying for the provision of several more homes in the next few months and years. Ironwood is God’s camp, and we strive use it for His glory!