New Web Site

We are glad you found this page! But we have a brand new website at http://heartworkcamp.com Any info here is probably outdated. Please visit our new site!

Thanks!
The CHWC Office Team

Pre-Trip 2013

Pre-trip planning packets have all left the CHWC office and are making their way around the country! Our fingers are crossed that EVERY group can get paperwork back to us by MAY 1st :)

Promote CHWC

Do you need a CHWC flyer to pass out at your youth group or to hand out to parents? Well you are in luck! Go to http://heartworkcamp.com/promote.htm and scroll to the bottom to get the 2013 CHWC Flyer!

Lots of CHWC Applicants for Staff!!!!

Every year we are blown away by the number of qualified and charismatic applicants that apply for our summer staff. The discernment and balancing act is underway as we prayerfully build our 2013 teams from the 140 awesome applicants we have received!

CHWC loves our managers!

CHWC loves our managers! Here is a photo of the annual managers meeting in Orlando.

New CHWC Employee

Congratulations to our newest full time employee Zach Walker! He made it through his first week of work at CHWC. Hopefully he shows up on Monday.

CHWC Musicians at NCCYM

Jon Pressimone plays percussion for Cooper Ray

One of our new musicians Chris Bray plays at NCCYM.

Lee Roessler preforms on the NCCYM stage

Cooper Ray plays at the Spirit and Song Booth at NCCYM

CHWC 2013 is just around the corner

CHWC 2013 is just around the corner, here is a map of the cites we are going to next summer!

CHWC Home Office

CHWC built a chalkboard in our home office, we are placing a different inspiration quote every week. Share your favorite inspirational quote below and it might make it up on our office wall.

Thank You!

Dear Youth Ministers and Contact People,
The Catholic HEART Workcamp Office Team has created the following video to personally thank you for your tremendous support in 2012.
Your planning, enthusiasm, and support is so appreciated and we look forward to what God has in store for 2013!

CHWC Musician PJ Anderson

CHWC Musician PJ Anderson's Grace Beyond Strength album will complete its run as an iTunes New & Noteworthy Featured Artist today Tuesday, July 31st. Check it out here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/grace-beyond-strength/id533469499

CHWC working hard!

CHWC will work on over 2000 homes this summer, this is just one of them. It is a before and after photo from Charlotte that shows the difference that a week of service can make!

CHWC on the News

Would you believe some of our campers rolled off of their air mattresses nice and early to represent CHWC on the morning news that aired from 5am-7am?! They sure did. What a cool way to start the Wednesday workday!

Musician Meeting 2012

Here is a video from the CHWC Musician Meeting, it was a great weekend with so many talented people.

Theme for 2012

Catholic HEART Workcamp invites you to live in the moment.  ZERO-IN and serve. Be aware of the small gifts that come your way. A smile, a word of thanks, the sun breaking through the clouds. Be present to the people you are with. Respond to them. Spend time with them. Concentrate. Life is about being in the now. Be here. Pay attention to what is in front of you. Pin point what’s really important. What are you called to do? Be part of God’s call to serve. It’s in the moment that defines your experience of life. Choose to focus on God’s unfailing presence. ZERO-IN on your Catholic faith. The past is over. The future is tomorrow. Live to give. Jesus calls us to be focused on His love, loving yourself and others. God desires you to zoom in on who and what is in the NOW. Listen, serve, reach out, care, and love. Be laser sharp with your attitude to serve. Be intentional. Your presence is important. God will use you to do something momentous this summer. Be a part of Catholic HEART Workcamp in our 20th summer of service. When you ZER0-IN and serve, the magnificent, beautiful, positive and miraculous will happen.

Introducing the CHWC Office Team

Here is a little video that shows the CHWC Office Team. Enjoy!

2012 Manager's Meeting

Every year the CHWC Managers escape the harsh winter and gather in sunny Florida for a weekend of fun, fellowship, and of course instruction. This is where the CHWC Managers learn to do all they do in the summer. It is a busy weekend, but it is very beneficial to all involved. This year was no exception!

CHWC loves its Priests!

Catholic HEART Workcamp has been blessed with many youth friendly, spirit centered and fantastic priests. Over 90 Priests were involved either as campers or camp chaplains this past summer!

Just to name of few that have been instrumental are: Fr. Geoff Rose, Fr. Ed McCarthy, Fr. Jeff Lucas, Fr. Jeremy Wind, Fr. Karl Bergin, Fr. Kevin McCarthy, Fr. Steve Bauman, Fr. Scott Thomas, Fr. Rich Litzasa, Fr. Mike Marone, and Fr. Tom Reilly. Let’s support our priests and thank the good Lord for them.

There was an article written on one of the priests involved with CHWC in a Lexington, Kentucky newspaper. Here is part of the article.

It’s safe to say that Fr. Norman Fischer is not your typical Catholic priest. As the son of an African-American father and Filipino mother, he is one of a relatively few priests of color in the United States. But the most atypical characteristic about Fischer belies his appearance and confounds even the stereotypes. The beloved “Father Norm” just loves to have a good time. Whether he’s rapping the homily for high school students, jumping up and down during mass at his church, or dancing the night away after performing a wedding ceremony, Fischer’s penchant for fun and celebratory spirit are evident in nearly everything he does. He’s the priest, who loves to perform skits and recite poetry; the one who is comfortable leaving the confines of the podium and running up and down the aisles to preach the Gospel. “I really believe there’s a great synergy with faith and fun,” said Fischer, the chaplain at Lexington Catholic High School and pastor at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in Lexington. After all, Fischer says, “Jesus had good times,” why shouldn’t his followers? “In the spirit of love, anything is possible.” The secret to Fischer’s success? Aside from spiritual guidance from God, he attributes his success as a priest to an ability to relate to people – no matter their age, no matter their background, no matter their race. “I can’t see myself not relating to everyone,” he said. And relating to people means “I meet them where they are.”

Here is Fr. Norm during one of his homilies at CHWC in Eagle Pass, TX.

Thank You Jesus for Fr. Norm’s ministry and using him to touch so many with God’s love.

LISTEN, AND SAY YES!

The greatest gift that God has given us was his son Jesus Christ, An innocent child, that we can adore and learn from. In reflecting on this I thought of my son, who is two years old. Every night before he goes to sleep we say our prayers. These moments are some of the proudest that I have as a father, every night he folds his hands as we pray:

Dear God, GOD! (he says as intensely as a 2 year old could) we thank you for our day YES! (I might add that he prays like a preacher, everything I say he resounds with a convincing YES!). Thank you for all the fun we had today, YES! And the friends we made, YES! And we pray for Grammy, YES!, Nana, NANA! (and so on....) he prays with such passion that I am astounded and amazed. He makes me yearn for such passion. One of my favorite bible verses has always been Matthew 18:3, There Jesus encourages us to have faith like a child. I just liked it, it seemed to strike a chord with me, but I didn't fully understand it until I became a father, and I can see that God wants us to have such unquestioning, unadulterated, unflappable faith that we shout YES! to him and his will. In my life I always think that I know what is best for myself. But in reality that is far from the case. If I would simply turn off my thoughts, and listen to what the Father wants, and shout YES! I would be truly doing his will.

I pray this Christmas season we can say YES! To what God is asking of all of us. That is to say yes, to a calling to listen and follow him, To let him lead us and not try and over-think and interpret what he is saying to us. Let us just listen and say YES!

-Nick Balabanski, Director of Media

Extremes

If I were to sum up Catholic Heart Workcamp in one word, I would definitely have to say “Extremes”. I have been working for CHWC for the past 6 years either as a Staff member or a Musician and have been to almost 50 camps across this beautiful country of ours and the one thing that my stands out in my mind is how extreme my experiences have been.

There are many different aspects of Catholic Heart, all of which are important threads in the fabric that make the experience so wonderful. There are Tacos, camouflage, prayers, skits, dancing, sun, paint, floors, spotlights, ladders… I could go on, but I’m sure you have other things to do today. Every single one of these elements are things that CHWC and all those involved, from the campers to the office staff, go Full Tilt on. Nothing is held back and it is always all or nothing. For me, the parts that have kept me going all these years can be found on Tuesday and Wednesday nights at camp.

Dance Party. Even typing that word makes my heart beat a little faster and sweat bead on my forehead. I love to dance, and the Tuesday night dance party is a marathon of awesomeness that gets everyone up out of their seats and get their hearts a-bumpin’. I cannot think of anywhere else in the world that has such a high octane and energy driven event. For those 20+ minutes, I feel like nothing can touch me and I have gone to a different place where hip shaking and arm waving is the international language of love. When it’s all over, I just want to fall down and enter into hibernation. It is such a joyful and wonderful experience that takes me to my limits in my energy and ability to keep dancing.

The next night takes on a much different feel with Four Corners. This is a much different extreme than what we were feeling the night before. Instead of strobe lights, there are candles; instead of dancing, prayers; instead of sweat, there are tears. Four Corners, a night dedicated to prayer and healing, is an experience that can’t truly be described. It is moving and powerful. In the same way I feel the spirit of dance moving through me the night before, I feel the Holy Spirit moving through the room during Four Corners. I am always amazed by this experience. It is a reverent and faith focused time of prayer and reflection. People there have no inhibitions and leave their hearts on their sleeves, open for the Will of God. Everyone there comes from a different background and has had different experiences, but at Four Corners, we are all God’s children. I have talked to and prayed with students whose faiths have put mine to shame, who are struggling with the same things I did, who are so desperately in love with God it cannot be put into words. There in that space, God is present. And God is Extreme.

When we talk about experiences, we often talk about our highs and our lows. What are the great things in our lives and the things that are not so great? At Catholic Hearts, these extremes are my eternal High. I have seen amazing things that have changed me as a person and a Christian. I have met people who have affected my life and challenged me to do better. I have been called to live every day, my faith and my life to the extremes. To not leave anything behind in this world, to leave my cards on the table, so that when I get to heaven, I’m prepared for the dance party that I know it’s gonna be.

Jon Pressimone
Click here to listen to Jon's new CD, "My Father's Apple Tree"