Currently, we are not reviewing volunteer applications or admitting new applicants for the 2023-2024 school year.
You are welcome to apply for the September 2024-2025 school year which will be reviewed in June 2024. Successful applicants will be interviewed in July 2024 and placed in classrooms by October 2024.
Counselling Practicums: Please note that due to the nature of our program, we cannot offer 1:1 direct client counseling opportunities. Our program provides group and informal client time. Therefore, counselling practicums typically require a second location to fulfill their requirements.
Each year approximately 100 volunteers across our locations support youth to positively change their lives in the Take a Hike program. The program is strengthened by the care, commitment, and skills of the wider community.
Thank you so much for your interest in volunteering or doing your practicum with us!
Steps to becoming a volunteer with Take a Hike
1. Read the roles & qualifications
POSITION DESCRIPTION
Engage youth with individual and group support, provide a positive adult role model, and mentor in the classroom and/or in the outdoors, while supporting staff.
Academic/in-class volunteers will assist staff in day-to-day activities, which include helping youth with their schoolwork and achieving their academic goals for the year.
Outdoor volunteers will support youth and staff on outdoor field trips and will have a strong interest and ability in activities like hiking, paddling, etc.
Trip volunteers have experience in multi-day backcountry trips, personal or through work/volunteer. WFA is an asset.
Specialty volunteers have a special skill or talent that they would like to offer to the program/s, in one or a short series of sessions. They will be able to provide a detailed outline of the activities.
Office volunteers would like to support our Basecamp office in areas of administration or professional services.
Event volunteers support our fundraising events and will be contacted in the planning and/or execution of the events.
QUALIFICATIONS
Strong communication skills
Positive attitude; ability and interest in dealing with complex youth needs
Experience working with youth in an academic setting, and/or experience in back-country/outdoor activities
Applicant age requirement: 21 years old
TIME COMMITMENT
Volunteers should commit to volunteering with the Take a Hike program for a minimum of half a school year (September to December or January to June). We encourage volunteers to stay for the full year. Take a Hike youth often lack continuity in their lives, and we want to provide a stable and comfortable environment for our youth. This will also help ensure there is time to develop positive relationships among youth and volunteers.
Ideally, in-class and outdoor volunteers will volunteer on a weekly basis for approximately 2-6 hours per visit.
As our program is embedded in a full-time school setting, our volunteer hours will take place from Monday through Friday between 8:30 am and 3:00 pm. We follow the same schedule and breaks as the school district, summer school is sometimes offered, but not guaranteed. Multi-day trips will sometimes span over weekends.
Specialty volunteers are an exception to this, as this can be a 1-hour activity.
Events and office volunteers are an exception to this, as this can be during evenings and weekends for events, or the volunteers schedule depending on the work.
ACCOUNTABILITY AND CONTACT
Once the volunteer has completed the engagement process with a Basecamp team member, a Take a Hike program staff member will be their main point of contact, and depending on the volunteer role, accountability may shift between staff members.
PRACTICUM/INTERNSHIP PLACEMENT
Same as above, however, we look for practicum students that are doing a three-week to one-year placement and we are adaptable to what your requirements may be.
Acceptance into a Take a Hike placement requires documentation and information on your practicum outline and requirements.
We can accept up to 2 volunteers/practicums at a time, per classroom. Space is limited so early application is encouraged (>3 months before placement to begin).
2. Complete an online application (link below)
If you have any questions or would like more information about how you can share your time, skills, and experience please contact us via email at volunteers@takeahikefoundation.org.
3. Attend in-person/video conference interview
4. If accepted, submit paperwork including a criminal record check (free for Take a Hike volunteers) as well as provide us with two professional or personal references.
5. Trial volunteer session
Note that interviews happen when a need arises in a program for a volunteer for a specific skill set or day/availability. We only interview applicants as needed to fill those spots - so after applying, it can be a while before you may be contacted for an interview. We interview a higher volume of volunteers through the summer, as we usually have a high turnover for the new school year.
VOLUNTEER DATA POLICY
Take a Hike Youth Mental Health Foundation is the sole owner of the information collected on this site. We use your information only to assess your suitability as a volunteer. We will not share your information with any party outside of our organization. If at any time you have questions about the data we have about you, how we use our data or would like to correct or delete the data we have about you, please contact us at volunteers@takeahikefoundation.org or 604.638.3385.