Reflecting on the year, and in particular the past six months, the entire team at Take a Hike Foundation is immensely grateful for your support.

In a year when we’ve all been tested, you – our incredible community of donors – stepped in to ask how you could help. None of the life-changing, life-affirming impacts you will read about in this report would have been possible without you.  

COVID-19 has compounded many of the challenges the youth we serve already face – anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, addictions, and trauma among youth. Despite the challenges of a global health crisis and one of the most significant racial equity and social justice movements of our time, Take a Hike youth showed remarkable resilience and strength. The skills and tools they had developed in Take a Hike put them in good stead to navigate increased adversity and persevere to reach their goals. Our grade 12 youth graduated high school and our returning youth successfully completed the year in an unrecognizable landscape.  

It’s tough enough being a teenager today when you have access to all the care, support and services you need. But what happens to youth who don’t have that support? What happens to youth who are held back from reaching their full potential? And what happens to our communities in the long term when the youth who are struggling now, grow into adults? With the help of PwC and the Ministry of Education, we measured and quantified these issues along with Take a Hike’s impact. In this report, we are pleased to release the social return of investing in the Take a Hike program as a high-value, long-term, sustainable solution.   

This year, in an expansion milestone, Take a Hike partnered with Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools to open our first program on Vancouver Island. We also saw growth in our West Kootenay program, supporting  15 new youth in the Kootenay-Columbia School District. In March, we moved our entire program online, turning Take a Hike digital in a matter of days. Thanks to you, we supported an additional 67 vulnerable youth and their families, beyond Take a Hike youth, who were in urgent need of mental health care. From April to August we provided 1,538 online counselling sessions across BC.  

There is a great need for our program across the province and the pandemic has highlighted the demand for early intervention and prevention mental health supports – a need that has been met for the 125 vulnerable youth who, thanks to you, were able to participate in the Take a Hike program this year. However, there are many more vulnerable youth with complex needs who need our help, and we have a lot of work to do in a challenging new landscape to reach them. 

With so much uncertainty in the world, program growth and innovation will look different in the coming year. Planned development on Vancouver Island was paused for now, but we remain in close conversation with several school districts who are ready to move forward once funding has stabilized. Innovations in the year ahea in our Nanaimo location will increase capacity and reach younger youth without a significant increase in overall program costs. Over the fall we will harvest our learnings from our COVID-19 response and recent growth to understand if there are other ways we can continue to grow and innovate the Take a Hike program, despite the uncertainty.

Thank you for being the safety net for our youth - for giving them the second chance they deserve. We are beyond grateful for your belief in them, and your trust in us to ensure their well-being, growth, and ultimate success. 

Thank you for making the lives and well-being of vulnerable youth a priority.