Jessica Stanley said she can not speak highly enough about the success the program has had in supporting students in the community. Photo: Take a Hike Foundation

A local Nanaimo organization that engages vulnerable youth with full-time mental health and well-being programs is looking for funding through the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) to support its program.

Take a Hike Nanaimo is an organization that offers 35 at-risk youth aged 15 to 18 an alternative classroom education that offers mental health and emotional well-being programs.

Zoe Lauckner, manager of philanthropy with Take a Hike Youth Mental Health Foundation, presented to the RDN board about the current need for mental health support for youths in the community.

“It is no surprise to anyone here that we are facing a mental health crisis in our communities. For youth, this crisis is at an all-time high. 70 per cent of adults living with mental illness today saw their symptoms emerge before they turned 18,” Lauckner said. “Yet as kids only one in seven will get the support they need. And these stats were prior to the pandemic, which has disproportionately impacted youth making the need for fulsome mental health support even more vital today.”

She said the program supports youth with intentional continuous clinical counselling and land-based learning and community. It empowers youth with the skills and resilience they need to graduate high school, build healthy relationships, and achieve success however the youth define it.

“We serve youth experiencing vulnerabilities between the ages of 15 to 18, who are struggling to succeed in the mainstream school system and are at great risk of leaving before graduation,” she said.

She said the goal for alumni of the program is to become resilient individuals with the skills and well-being they need to navigate any challenges they are faced with throughout their lives.

“We are currently in the midst of doing a new alumni survey, but some of the statistics up here from the last one we did in 2019,” Lauckner said. “And that showed us that 70 per cent of our alumni went on to post-secondary school, 90 per cent were employed and 95 per cent had continued positive impacts in mental and physical health.”

Lauckner told the board that by supporting the program, it is investing in the future community of the regional district.

“We conducted a social return on investment study recently and found that for every dollar invested in our programs, society recognizes a return of between $5.60 and $13.40 through participants increased contributions to society, as well as significantly reduced reliance on health and social supports, such as hospital and health care, as well as policing and the criminal justice system,” she said.

Lauckner said the programs would not be possible without the support of the community and seeks support from all levels of government as well as foundations, organizations, service clubs, and individuals.

Director for Electoral Area G, Lehann Wallace asked Lauckner for more details about the amount of grant funding they are seeking.

Lauckner said the RDN will be receiving a grant-in-aid request from the organization for a regional district community grant.

Jessica Stanley, Director for Electoral Area A said she was a school board trustee for School District 68 when they brought in the Take a Hike program. She said she can not speak highly enough about the success the program has had in supporting students in the community.

“From what I understand from the learning [alternative learning program] staff is that this particular program was hugely effective, specially for those really hard-to-reach kids,” Stanley said. “So I want to actually be quite emphatic in my support of this program, in the considerations for support.”

She also said she believes the program does save them money.

“If we're gonna go ahead, kids are going to head in a direction that causes us greater social strife and financial strain versus, you know, contributing members in a positive way to our society,” Stanley said.

The regional district community grant application process ends on April 26.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.