#272 Elizabeth Phillips - Inside Camp Kanakuk: One of America’s Darkest Child Summer Camps
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What is discussed at the start of this section?
Elizabeth Phillips, welcome to the show.
Thanks for having me.
You're welcome. Been looking forward to this.
Same.
But yeah, so interesting. I think it was a couple months ago. I think maybe late October, sometime in November. Tim Tebow called me and told me about your situation, what you're doing, the laws that you're getting passed. And he told me about... what happened with your brother, who was sexually abused at Camp Canacook in Missouri. And Tim asked me if I would be interested in doing an interview with you. And so when he told me about the situation, Immediately, I was like, yep, I'm in. Let's do it. This is a topic that we've covered several times on this show, and I think a lot of people are scared to talk about this subject. I don't know why. I don't know what's more important than saving our kids, but...
We're here for it. And so thank you for being here. This is going to be a very heavy interview. And, man, you know, I've just heard amazing things about Camp Cannecook. In fact, one of our team members here today has been there. I think she said she's been going there since she was three years old. And, yeah, but...
Thanks for being willing to have the conversation and to enter the darkness a little bit so we can expose it.
Yeah.
And God bless Tim for the intro. God bless you for wanting to have the conversation.
Thank you.
I'm grateful to anyone who will let me talk about this and who cares.
You want to start with a prayer?
Yeah.
Let's do it.
All right. I work with a lot of survivors who are pursuing sobriety. So I'm going to read the Serenity Prayer, if that's cool.
Perfect. This is my wife's favorite prayer.
Awesome.
15 years sober.
That's amazing.
Yeah.
Okay, God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference, living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardships as the pathway to peace, that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy forever in the next. Amen.
Amen. Thank you. Thank you. All right, I'm going to give you an introduction. Everybody starts with an introduction. Elizabeth Phillips, leading voice on reforming how the legal system treats survivors of child sexual abuse. Younger brother Trey died by suicide in 2019 at age 28 after a civil settlement with Camp Kanakook that included a restrictive NDA. Founder of No More Victims, an advocacy organization that passes child protection laws. In 2025, you passed Trey's Law in Texas and in Missouri. Led the campaign for camp safety with a coalition of parents who lost their daughters on July 4th, 2025. at Camp Mystic to pass the Heavens 27 Camp Safety and Youth Camper Acts. You served as the executive director of the Phillips Foundation since 2013, wife to Kevin, mother of three, and most importantly, you're a Christian.
And this is the first time you've spoken publicly about this collective work and what's ahead. So once again, thank you.
Thanks.
all right a couple things to knock out here real quick i have a patreon account it's a subscription account we've turned it into one hell of a community and uh they're the reason that i get to sit here with you today so one of the things i do is i offer them the opportunity to ask every guest a question this is from murphy You've turned unimaginable personal loss into meaningful systemic change. What was the turning point when advocacy shifted from something you were doing in your brother's memory to something that defined your life's work?
It's a great question, Murphy. It kind of gives me chills because I think I'm in that moment right now, like realizing this is my life's work. I just can't unsee what I've seen. And this part of my mission started with my brother's death. And I knew I had to turn that pain into something powerful, something purposeful. And then I started getting into it and realized there are all these survivors suffering in the shadows. So it's so much bigger than Trey, so much bigger than me now. I will fight for these now friends.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is discussed at the start of this section?
0:05–13:14
2
What led Elizabeth Phillips to advocate for child protection laws?
13:14–32:59
3
How does Elizabeth Phillips describe her experiences at Kanakuk Camps?
32:59–1:13:14
4
What insights did Elizabeth Phillips share during her Zoom call with law enforcement about Kanakuk?
1:13:14–1:14:26
5
How does Kanakuk's financial transparency impact its operations?
1:14:26–1:15:10
6
What are the implications of Trey's Law on child protection and NDAs?
1:15:10–2:35:09
7
What pivotal moments led to the passing of Trey's Law?
2:35:09–2:37:11
8
How does Elizabeth Phillips view the future of camp safety regulations?
2:37:11–4:00:52
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