Young Girl Follows Moss Hollow's Slogan, Finding Friends and a Creative Outlet

D onald Brown knows how big an uncle's responsibilities can really be. When his sister, a troubled drug addict, abandoned his infant nieces, he stepped in.

The first time was 14 years ago, when he claimed Tyler at D.C. General Hospital. Six years later, he did the same, fetching little Bria home from Howard University Hospital. In the meantime, he had added their older sister, Brittney, to his household after the death of his mother, who had been her guardian.

Brittney, who was 10 then, is now a college student.

Brown, 46 and single, is raising the girls alone. He juggles that responsibility with a job organizing the catering and other operational needs at the large downtown law firm K&L Gates.

Like any single parent, he has coped with child-care issues, kept up with the laundry, the homework, even the girls' hair. He brags that he "can plait and do twist braids."

Still, summers have been a special challenge with school out and the continuing pressures of his job.

Enter Camp Moss Hollow.

Bria, 8, is a new camper this summer, and she has been able to attend two sessions. Depending on enrollment, she could qualify for additional weeks at camp.

For Brown, who visited Moss Hollow before he signed up Bria, the camp has provided a breather from cobbling together complicated child-care arrangements.

For Bria, camp has meant having a real, honest-to-goodness summer: running and playing outdoors, swimming, doing things she never dreamed of, such as paddling in a canoe on a pond. She has also lived the camp slogan: "You can always find a friend at the Hollow."

Bria has found several and she reels off their names: "Dymand, Brianna, Alicia."

"We like to talk about camp and how cool it is," she said.