Pathfinders Wilderness Camps

Pathfinders Wilderness Camps are another valuable program CRYI offers to the local youth.  Those who attend these camps have the chance to experience a rugged, backcountry setting where they learn about wilderness survival, environmental conservation, and team building through a variety of social exercises.  The camp leaders are able to bond with the campers and share stories and mentor them, while always seeking to convey the importance of positive decision-making.  The primary goal is to equip these at-risk youth with faith, hope, and other tools that will help them increase in self-discipline, as well as their sense of self-worth.

Many have found the Pathfinders Wilderness Camps to be unparalleled in their capacity to invoke spiritual, physical, and social development.  Perhaps the most significant aspect of these wilderness trips is that it allows some of the most hardened youth to get away from the craziness of the streets for a moment.  The peaceful and quiet surroundings offer them a chance to reflect on the life they’re leading, while the teachings they receive encourage them to consider, healthier opportunities that are available to them.  Because of this dynamic, CRYI camps create a rare opportunity for the lives of hardened youth to be spiritually impacted, possibly more than any other program we offer.  Often, the changes these kids go through are bound to touch the lives of others, such as their families, as well.  This means that the entire community can benefit when a youth attends a Pathfinders Wilderness Camp.  CRYI hopes to have the ability to send hundreds of kids to camp this year and in the years to come.  This program also helps build partnerships with other youth organizations in order to give more youth a wider variety of camping opportunities to participate in.