Our Story
Hue Dao
FounderHue Dao still recalls a moment that changed her life. It was the summer of 2001, and Hue, on scholarship paired with funds from youth group car washes, was at summer camp on the Brazos River in Cleburne, Texas climbing a high ropes course for the first time. She had been recently adopted by Brian and Tammy Miner of Arlington, TX, and was still adjusting to the living arrangement that included her and four younger brothers.
Hue, thirteen years old at the time, was looking down from the high platform, calculating the tingle feeling and fall risk factor. Though uneasy, she remembered feeling lucky to be there. She got to do something that made her body experience fear, and it wasn’t hunger or being houseless.
“ It was something completely different—
the feeling of chosen thrill. ”
Fast forward to 2026, Hue entered an exciting phase as the Founder of The Summer Camp Project (SCP). She is deeply committed to paving a path to a thriving future for diverse young people like her.
Our vision:
“ Every child deserves to explore beyond the walls of home and school —
and cost should never be the thing that stops them. ”
The Summer Camp Project champions youth development by making summer camp accessible to children from under-resourced families — through a simple lean model built on community partnership and shared resources.
Hue studied Biology and Public Relations at the University of North Texas, with the goal of becoming a doctor. Over the next 20 years, she found other ways to heal — through hospitality and nonprofit work, as Director of Community Outreach at Against The Grain Productions, then as Relationship Development Officer at Treehouse.
In 2020, she headed west with her dog, Umami, a corgi-pitbull mix, on a road trip through the national parks — and never really left. The Pacific Northwest has been home ever since.
It's also where she met her husband, Josh. Their first date was a walk through Seward Park in January 2021, followed by takeout pho from Phở Bắc on Rainier. They've been married since 2024, splitting their time between traveling the world and exploring closer to home in their van, Just Twilight.
The Story - From Bataan to Belonging
Every chapter of her path - the hard ones and the joyful ones - shaped why the Summer Camp Project exists.
A Beginning at Sea
Born in a refugee camp in Bataan, Philippines to Vietnamese “boat people,” fleeing after the war in search of safety.
Early Years - A House Full of Promise
Raised as a first-generation immigrant in Texas in a Vietnamese household with aunts and uncles, the eldest of five children.
7 years old - A Family Changed
Her father’s imprisonment reshaped the family. Her mother carried them forward alone as a single mother.
12 years old - A Turning Point
A difficult, defining year - one that would quietly set the course for everything after.
13 years old - A New Chapter
Adopted into a military, entrepreneurial family, warm and know for gathering others into their home - one that would eventually grow to eight children.
That Summer - Off The Church Bus
At summer camp, she met her grandfather Ron Miner - a Nazarene clergyman, who with her grandmother Jackie, set a family legacy living purposeful lives serving others.
For more of the story, please visit the Blog.
