Southeastern Diabetes Education Services Inc

Southeastern Diabetes Education Services (SDES) teaches children and families how to live with diabetes.  SDES provides an understanding and supportive medical and family network designed to assist with individual and family diabetes education and support.  We bring together representatives from all diabetes-related professions - physicians, nurses, dieticians, and diabetes educators so that children and families can receive out-of-hospital access to diabetes care professionals, comprehensive diabetes management education, and general emotional support while also providing the opportunity for children and families living with diabetes to interact with other children and families living with this difficult illness. 

Through our Camp Seale Harris and Camp Sugar Falls programs for children with diabetes, participants are encouraged and motivated to reach their full potential despite their illness.  Volunteer health care professionals carefully monitor each child’s blood sugar status thereby enabling them to successfully participate in the program.  Participants receive structured diabetes education daily.  Our volunteer staff leads educational sessions on diabetes management including insulin administration and management, proper nutrition, incorporating physical activity in one’s life, and other essential components of good diabetes self-management.

Children in attendance at our summer camps, under the supervision of trained counselors (many of whom have diabetes themselves), engage in typical summer activities that children without this illness take for granted - for example swimming, fishing, boating, and hiking.  Many of our participants, unable to attend a typical summer camp, thrive when presented with new physical, mental, and social challenges in this environment, and as a result they will often develop a “can-do” attitude about physical activity, teamwork, and their future as healthy happy adults.

We offer our services utilizing four basic programs.

•  Camp Seale Harris Junior and Senior Camps - summer residential programs for children and youth that teach children how to live with diabetes and emphasize peer learning and support.

•  Camp Seale Harris Family Weekend and Summer Family Camp -  Summer, and Fall residential programs for families of children with diabetes that offer diabetes education, networking opportunities for families, and general support.

•  Camp Sugar Falls - summer day programs for children and youth that emphasize diabetes education and support. 

•  Community Based Family Day education and support programs - programs for families of children with diabetes that provide diabetes education, networking opportunities for families, and general support.

Southeastern Diabetes Education Services desires that all children with diabetes have the ability to attend our programs regardless of ability to pay.  We offer families who express difficulty with paying our fees a choice of Financial Aid tools including Program Scholarships.

SDES children come from all areas of Alabama.  A few of the cities including Florence, Huntsville, Scottsboro, Cullman, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Gadsden, Oxford, Annistion, Demopolis, Montgomery, Auburn, Opelika, Dothan, and Mobile.

Children, youth, diabetes, health, education, instruction, learning, leadership

www.southeasterndiabetes.org