200 Miles for Hull

I’ve had the incredible opportunity to work at Hull Services as an Educational Child and Youth Care Counsellor these past three years and see the impact the work has had on Calgary's youth and families.

I’m excited to announce I will be partnering with two programs within Hull Services: Subnivean Farm and Push to Heal.

On September 10, I will be running in The Divide 200, a 200-mile mountain trail race in the Canadian Rockies with hopes of bringing awareness to these wonderful programs. Our goal is to raise $15,000 to help support Subnivean Farm and Push To Heal, as well as ensuring I am able to participate and complete the race. All money raised will be matched by up to 50 per cent through Birdies for Kids.

I truly appreciate any support you can offer.

More details on the programs below:

Subnivean Farm is a cold weather market garden and permaculture design project on Hull's southwest Calgary campus. It produces food for Hull Services and the surrounding community; most specifically William Roper Hull School where I am currently an educational child and youth care counsellor. The Farm offers a diversity of ecological systems to be explored. These include but are not limited to: a passive solar greenhouse, permaculture orchard, meditation labyrinth, pond and outdoor kitchen all nestled within a 60-year-old aspen stand. The Farm is a productive example of the benefit of these systems being attached to community hubs and schools.

Subnivean Farm uses the regulating processes embedded in food production and ecological system management to help ground and stabilize the community. Hull counsellors and teachers gain a valuable milieu to pursue therapeutic and curricular goals with the young people at Hull, with organic and nutrient dense food thrown in for good measure.

Push To Heal uses skateboarding in conjunction with the Neurosequential Model (NM), which is a developmentally-informed, biologically-respectful approach to working with at-risk children. It comes out of the work of Dr. Bruce Perry and the Neurosequential Network. The combination of skateboarding and the NM provides a unique and alternative approach to emotional regulation, education, connection and healing.

Push To Heal is also partnering on a comic series entitled “Your Brain on Sport”, which highlights the therapeutic potential of sports (like running) in a comic book format. This concept resonates with my own experience with sport and highlights the need for more education and opportunity (for both staff and students) related to the therapeutic application of sport.

***All donations will receive a tax receipt issued bye Hull Services.

Let’s go get it!