About Take a Hike
Our Vision: All youth believe in their potential and are on their path to success.
Our Mission: Empowering vulnerable youth to change the trajectory of their lives through full-time academics, mental health and emotional well-being supports, land-based learning, and community.
Since 2000, Take a Hike has walked with youth as they journey through the most challenging period of development in their lives. Our life-changing mental health and social-emotional well-being program is grounded in land-based learning and embedded in an alternate education classroom to facilitate youth development. Our proven all-season, immersive program offers youth an intensive opportunity to counter past negative experiences in school and improve mental health and resilience ahead of a critical transition time in their lives. Youth stay engaged in school, receive support and treatment, and are supported to access additional community-based services. Thanks to our generous community of donors and partners we increase their ability to complete their education and be successful in life – however they define it.
Take a Hike’s new Strategic Plan aims to catapult the way we support and uplift the mental well-being of vulnerable youth across Canada. Our 2024-2028 Plan is designed to address the growing mental health needs of young people by integrating innovative approaches, fostering community partnerships, and enhancing access to vital resources.
Reflections on Scaling: A Case Study
In partnership with the Rideau Hall Foundation, Take a Hike has created a case study that dives into the scaling that our organization has taken on over the past decade. By exploring Take a Hike’s history, policies, and procedures that make scaling into new regions not only possible but successful, Reflections on Scaling: A Case Study in Non-Profit Growth outlines the steps Take a Hike has taken to get to where we are now and where we are headed.