Seeds of Hope
This year, Take a Hike celebrates 25 years of empowering youth experiencing vulnerability to change the trajectory of their lives. Scroll down to read Take a Hike’s origin story, told by Take a Hike’s founder, Tim Gale.
In 1998, teacher Tim Gale started a new job at a secondary school in Vancouver, specializing in behavior disorders. It became apparent to him that the youth were not receiving the support they needed and would likely miss out on academic milestones and ultimately graduation.
Tim made a proposal to the school administration to engage youth in a different way, and they gave him carte blanche to develop a program. Inspired by positive experiences Tim had growing up in outdoor programs including the YMCA and Quest, the seed of the Take a Hike program was planted.
Tim began taking the youth outdoors on walks and bike rides during class, with academic lessons tied in. He noticed that they became increasingly engaged and healthier, and conflict decreased. However, he could see the kids needed more mental health and well-being support.
“We thought we could send them to see a therapist as needed, but there was no relationship between the youth and the therapist – so they would go once and never want to go back again. It just didn’t work. I knew it could be much, much better.”
Tim met Conrad Cone, a Youth and Family Worker, who was also looking to engage youth through time spent outdoors. Tim and Conrad collaborated to develop the program so that it supported youth with complex needs – youth who were not finding success in the mainstream school system.
“The goal of the program was to have a holistic approach – a place where youth would get a therapist, an academic education, and outdoor adventure. Our aim was that youth would come out of the program with the ability to give back, because they now had self-esteem, self-worth, and a different perspective on life.”
“We just wanted a group of kids that needed support. And so, we said, ‘Let’s see what your strengths are’, ‘Let’s see what your challenges are’, and ‘Let’s see how we can work through those together’, developing skills to set youth up for success and a brighter future.”
Early Growth
With this shared vision taking shape, financial support was needed to further develop the program. Conrad connected with his network, and Phil Cotterill (an original board member and now a long-standing Take a Hike donor) became one of the first people to step forward to offer help.
From there, Deb Nelson, Sheila Biggers, Kelvin Lum, and John Montalbano came onboard and together formed the Take a Hike Youth At Risk Foundation, making the first donations to support the developing program. In October 2000, Take a Hike opened its first program at John Oliver Secondary school in Vancouver.
Soon after, Klaus Klein (a clinical counselling Masters student) reached out to offer his service and support in exchange for practical experience. This was the beginning of the relationship between mental health counsellors and the education staff in the Take a Hike program and led to full-time counselling being embedded in the classroom. 25 years on, Take a Hike remains a leader in providing early intervention and prevention mental health support in the public school system.
During the first five years, the outdoor adventure components grew steadily. “Car camping led to cabins, and cabins led to tents and sleeping bags, once we could afford them. This then allowed us to do multi-day trips, and incorporate canoeing and backpacking, which eventually lead to kayaking multi-day trips.”
Plans Taking Root
As is often the case at the beginning of a new venture, Take a Hike had its share of growing pains. The approval process and administrative due diligence was often extensive and complicated.
On top of this, the program demanded a highly skilled and dynamic team to manage multiple program components. Essential staff members are a counsellor and a youth and family worker with a skill set to match the adventure-based learning approach.
“We started with one Grade 11 and Grade 12 class. With the success we were having, the school board wanted to send us more kids, so we expanded to a second program for Grade 10. That was another growing pain – how to expand from one program to two, how to transfer the model and keep it consistent. Sometimes we would move in a slightly different direction to the one I thought we would take. But we were staying aligned with what Take a Hike was, and I realized this was going to constantly change and evolve.”
“Our board was and continues to be amazing. Without their confidence, support and belief in me and the program, we would not have been able to do the things we did and continue to do. I am very humbled by their commitment to Take a Hike.”
Sustained By Community
‘Community’ is one of the four program pillars at Take a Hike. Valued partners, businesses and organizations in the community are integral to the Foundation’s success.
“By creating these reciprocal relationships, it teaches youth the importance of giving back, as well as giving them a sense of worth when they discover their contribution is valued and they can make a difference. Right from the beginning, we wanted to do something with the kids once a week that helped build their self-esteem and helped the community. We made this happen and have done a million different things – from working with the Food Bank and the SPCA, to planting trees, and a whole lot more.”
“As a community, we need to look after each other and take care of each other. I believe if you can’t be on the ground helping physically, but you have deep pockets, then you can use some of that to help others. Society won’t succeed without that; community involvement and philanthropy are powerful parts of a healthy society. And I’m so grateful every time anybody gets involved and gives something – whether it’s $2 or $2,000. The impact donations make is exponential.. Without a community of passionate supporters, we would not be able to run our programs.”
“The program isn’t just impacting the youth and their families – it also impacts everyone who learns about Take a Hike and why it works.. I can see this continuing to expand across Canada. It’s a model that has been proven over 25 years, and the results are amazing. There are thousands of youth in our country who need this program, so the work continues until every young person has the education, well-being, and the future they deserve.”
Tim retired from the Take a Hike Vancouver program in 2018, handing over his teaching role and taking on a more active fundraising role for the Foundation. Tim lives on Mayne Island with his wife, Patti, and they’re now travelling and exploring the world around them; hiking, kayaking, camping, and visiting with their growing number of grandchildren.
