Tonic Generation's Non-profit of the Week: The Mountain Center

By Dan Estabrook - July 22, 2008 (TNN) When an organization uses the outdoors to empower our youth through experiential education, I'm impressed.  When it is able to reach thousands of teens and families in a rural and poor region of the U.S., I'm blown away. My choice for Tonic Generation's Non-Profit of the Week is the Santa Fe Mountain Center.  Located in Northern New Mexico, the organization focuses on three audiences: at-risk teens and families; Native American youth; and gay and lesbian teens and adults.  According to its website, the Mountain Center "represents an alternative to traditional educational and therapeutic approaches conducted in comfortable institutional settings. We create dynamic learning experiences that include elements of adventure, education and challenge." The Mountain Center focuses on three improvement areas for its youth:

The staff is committed to helping clients gain empowerment via such activities as camping, hiking, rock-climbing, ropes courses, whitewater rafting and other physical challenges.  I am not sure if any of you have visited Northern New Mexico, but the terrain and scenery are quite spectacular and conducive to outdoor (and green) experiences. From its website: Program designs range from single day programs to multi-day camps and wilderness programs. Adventure-based programming — cooperative games, problem solving "group initiative" challenges, ropes course, backpacking, rock climbing, rappelling, whitewater rafting — as well as community mobilization and youth organizing, have proven to be powerful vehicles for developing a sense of self worth, responsibility, compassion, and connection to community. The organization has also taken the lead nationally in creating measurement tools for the success of its therapeutic education model and risk management standards for other non-profits involved with experiential education programs. What better way to work with youth and families but in the great and green outdoors?  The Mountain Center combines education within a model that exposes teens to obstacles they would never experience in a classroom.  For example, when a teen reaches the tallest pinnacle of a southwest canyon after an 8-hour climb, he or she feels empowered not only by his survival and accomplishment in the outdoors, but with setting and meeting a goal.  That is a great lesson for all the later pinnacles these kids will climb throughout life. And the looks on these participants faces when they realize that they accomplished something they never thought they would: priceless. Check out the Santa Fe Mountain Center here. Photos courtesy of Santa Fe Mountain Center. "Tonic Generation's Non-profit of the Week" is a regular feature at Tonic News Network.  If you would like to nominate a non-profit for consideration, please email dan@tonicgen.com.  The non-profit must be an accredited 501(c)3.  We look forward to your submissions!