Charity Spotlight: This post was provided by Kevin Chapman, Communications Coordinator at Power To Be Adventure Therapy Society, as part of our ongoing charity spotlight series.

It’s easy to take things for granted in our lives. For many of us, relaxing on vacation with our families or heading out camping in the Canadian Wilderness are commonplace. But for families with members who have physical or mental limitations, coordinating the logistics can seem insurmountable. And for many youth in our community, the opportunities required to develop confidence and strong leadership skills in order to be successful in their lives are out of reach.

Power To Be is a support for these youth and families. Many powerful experiences are provided daily through our Adaptive Recreation and Wilderness School programs:

• a young adult with cerebral palsy finds confidence through kayaking,
• a father with a permanent brain injury experiences a meaningful family camping trip, or
• a youth at-risk grows and develops leadership skills and gains new confidence.

Our mission is to contribute directly to the success of local youth and families in need of support by connecting them to the outdoors. Every day we get to combine our love for the great outdoors with a passion making a difference in the lives of others.

One Family’s Power To Be Story

A recent family trip to Tofino was one of our best family excursions ever. It is very freeing and relaxing to be around people who are positively accepting and non-judgmental, and this allows all of us to relax and just enjoy the moments, rather than have to manage and explain them. We trusted the staff and knew they understood and accepted our daughter completely for who she is. We didn’t feel the need to explain all of her behaviors; this can become overwhelming and exhausting when we are bringing her into an environment where there may be a lack of understanding around autism and developmental disabilities.

I sometimes don’t realize how much energy goes into this, until I am in a situation where I don’t have to do it – I don’t have to monitor her every move and then watch for the reactions of others and respond to that. Power To Be is so unique because the staff understand the obstacles facing individuals with developmental delays and strive to provide unique opportunities that are customized to each person’s abilities and challenges. It is a rare opportunity that includes the whole family; it is really the ultimate definition of inclusion.

There is a great need for our services

Power To Be fills an important gap in the growing demand for accessible and inclusive recreation. We work in the community to reduce isolation, provide accessible programs and promote healthy and active living by providing nature-based programs to those who needs them most. We take pride in being able to 100% subsidize all of our programs to support youth and families in the British Columbia community.

We envision a community where the power of nature is accessible to everyone. We work towards this goal, relying on our core values of respect, integrity and innovation.

Power To Be inspires youth and families in need of support to discover their limitless abilities though nature-based programs. Learn more about them on their charity profile page.>>

Updated on October 31, 2024