Measuring Our Impact
Last year, thanks to your generosity, we supported 125 vulnerable youth and their families across six programs in five school districts.
You made the life-changing Take a Hike program possible not only for Take a Hike youth, but in a time of great need you were also there for our alumni and their families, as well as many more vulnerable youth in the community who needed urgent care.
We celebrated 26 Take a Hike youth who either graduated with their high school diploma, or were eligible to graduate but chose to postpone due to the exceptional circumstances – an incredible accomplishment given the major disruptions to their routines and connections.
Our youth showed remarkable strength and resilience while facing a global health crisis and an unprecedented social justice movement impacting every classroom. Whether youth graduated or progressed to the next grade level, thanks to you, they all found success, hope, and a supportive community.
Along the way, they mastered outdoor and leadership skills from trails hiked, mountains summited, and many days spent navigating the backcountry wilderness.
Academics & Graduation
10 months of instruction with personal education plans, and cross-curricular and experiential learning
93% of grade twelve youth graduated (26 out of 29 grade 12 youth)
Of the 29 youth, 3 decided to remain connected to the program to further develop their skills
Adventure
Each youth engaged in between 180 - 216 hours of physical activity and outdoor experiential learning on weekly field trips
Youth spent between 144 to 336 hours each on multi-day wilderness trips. No spring trips took place last year due to COVID-19
20 weekly field trips
2 multi-day wilderness trips
Clinical Counselling
Over 6,000 individual & group clinical counselling sessions (1,000 for each program)
Community Involvement
2,100 combined volunteer hours across all programs including trail restoration, invasive species removal, tree planting, garbage and community cleaning.
Program Impact
Over the past 20 years, Take a Hike has developed a unique and impactful program model supported by academic research and practice-based evidence. With this model, we have helped meet the needs of hundreds of vulnerable youth and their families across the province.
For the past five years over 90% of our grade 12 youth graduated.
Take a Hike alumni are equipped with the social and emotional skills, resiliency, and mental health and well-being required to navigate the challenges of young adulthood, including: transitioning to further education, finding housing, building relationships, and securing employment. Of alumni survey respondents:
95% reported improvements in mental health;
97% reported improvements in physical health;
79% reported a greater appreciation for their community;
71% pursued and graduated from post-secondary education; and
90% are employed either full-time (79%) or part-time (11%).
