Last September, in a growth milestone, we opened our first program on Vancouver Island, in partnership with Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, welcoming 15 new youth and their families to the Take a Hike community. 

The Nanaimo program marks our sixth full-time program, increasing Take a Hike’s capacity to 130 vulnerable youth province-wide in 2019 - 2020.

Once youth get a sense of the family atmosphere at Take a Hike, and discover the support they need to focus on their studies, they begin to turn their lives around. The Take a Hike Nanaimo program, run in the former Woodlands Secondary School, offers youth between grade 10 and 12 a new experience of learning and a supportive community dedicated to their well-being and success. 

The leadership in the Nanaimo community has been welcoming and encouraging, with a great deal of support and an understanding from the outset of what it takes to meet the complex needs of youth who haven't found success in the mainstream school system. The program opened within 9 months of first meeting with the Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District to discuss the urgent need for early intervention and prevention mental health supports in their community.  

As the Superintendent and CEO of Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools, Scott Saywell is constantly on the lookout for evidence-based programs that use effective ways of engaging vulnerable youth. 

We’re very grateful and honoured to have received a blessing and traditional welcome to Nanaimo from Snuneymuxw First Nation Elder, former Chief, and Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools Hul’q’umin’um instructor, Jerry Brown. We’re inspired and encouraged by the support we’ve already received, and we appreciate the community’s help to ensure the strength and sustainability of our newest program.