Take a Hike on a Tall Ship
During our spring sailing season this year, a significant challenge turned into a beautiful opportunity to grow a bursary partnership with a local organization: Take a Hike Foundation.
The spring 2023 season started off with much excitement, but also a significant challenge. Although COVID did not directly impact our program in 2023 like it did in 2020 and 2021, it had resonating secondary effects: the 2023 spring sailing season was not fully booked, which is very unusual because that part of our program has had a significant waitlist for years. Our office staff were working hard to connect with schools and other groups that might be able to sail. One such group that we reached out to was the Take a Hike Foundation (TAH), a charity based out of Vancouver that provides mental and emotional support to vulnerable youth through an alternate education setting. Their mission is to “empower youth with the skills and resilience they need to graduate high school, build healthy relationships, navigate the challenges of young adulthood, and achieve success – however they define it.”
SALTS sailed with TAH for the first time in 2022 after reconnecting with Liam Law, a previous SALTS employee who now works as the Manager of Vancouver Island Programs and Clinical Coordinator for TAH. After a positive experience in 2022 with the first TAH group to sail with SALTS, Liam was eager to have TAH sail again. Thanks to efforts from both organizations’ staff, three of the vacant trips remaining in our spring season were able to be provided to TAH through our bursary program, which meant four different TAH groups from Vancouver Island set sail this spring (TAH participants and trips not pictured).
And what trips they were! Combining the work TAH does with the environment of a SALTS trip proved to be hugely impactful. One student said that the trip “allowed her to feel connected to her classmates in a way she didn’t think was possible” and gave her the space to think about who she is and who she could become. TAH staff members shared that “I think every one of our kids had a personal growth experience while on board” and “following the trip, the cohesion in class was way up.” Liam shared how it has had a measurable impact on nicotine use for multiple youth; one student shared that they used to vape constantly during the day, and were proud to now share that they have reduced that to only four per day since the trip. Zoom Image
And it wasn’t only valuable for the youth; Liam shared that he saw TAH staff being cared for during the trip alongside the young people, supported in ways from practical – like SALTS providing planning and logistics for the week – to personal, as we served alongside them and invested in these amazing young people. Our staff and crew learned so much from both the leaders and young people on board, and were so honoured to have been welcomed into their communities so generously.
We are so thankful for the time spent working together with TAH to create a safe and caring environment for youth who often struggle to find such an environment outside of school. To know that these young people had a safe space to feel known and loved leaves us feeling grateful for the initial challenge of trying to fill our spring schedule, because it ultimately provided opportunities for these vulnerable youth to go on a trip they would otherwise have never had the chance to go on.
Thank you to everyone who made these trips, and their continuing impact, possible. Thank you to Liam, the Take a Hike Foundation, and the support staff on the trips - we were honoured to come alongside and support the work that TAH is doing. Thank you especially to the TAH youth for trusting SALTS and being willing to set sail with us. Thank you to our bursary donors who made those trips (and all our bursary trips) possible. Your support means that we can continue to sail with groups like Take a Hike and welcome youth on board who would otherwise not have the chance to embark on an experience like this.
For more information about the Take a Hike Foundation, you can visit takeahikefoundation.org
By Gillian Ens and Tina Bergum