OUR MISSION

Happy Trails for Kids is a non-profit organization that aims to provide stability, self-esteem and a sense of community to children in the California foster care system.  By offering adventurous overnight activities supplemented by year-round reunion events, Happy Trails strives to be a consistent and enriching influence on the lives of a vulnerable and overlooked segment of the youth population.

OUR APPROACH

First and foremost, we want our boys and girls to have fun.  Children in foster care often miss out on the joys of a safe and worry-free childhood.  Most have suffered severe abuse and/or neglect in the past.  Once in the system, they meet additional challenges, as they can be uprooted from homes, separated from siblings, relatives and friends, and stigmatized by peers.  This often leads to feelings of isolation and worthlessness.

Each summer, Happy Trails for Kids gives children in foster care the opportunity to spend weeklong camping sessions in the great outdoors – hiking to the beach, telling scary stories by the campfire, whispering with new friends in bunk beds, and singing silly songs in the dining hall.  Happy Trails also offers a dude ranching program for disabled children and their foster families.  Despite physical limitations, kids can ride a horse, catch a fish, join in a square dance and bounce along on a hayride.  These experiences allow the freedom, fun and adventure that all children want, need and deserve.

Happy Trails strives to be more than a snapshot in these children’s lives.  By emphasizing retention of the same campers and by offering year-round events, we provide meaningful continuity for these children.  They are introduced to role models and mentors, and build a network of friends facing obstacles similar to their own. 

Once youth “age out” of the foster care system, they face an exceptionally high risk of unemployment, homelessness and incarceration.  Kids do not “age out” of Happy Trails.  Children can become part of Happy Trails as early as age 5, and we hope they will remain with the Happy Trails family as mentors, volunteers, counselors or staff. 

Happy Trails for Kids is an intimate group, though broadening our reach is an important goal.  There are more than 30,000 children in the Los Angeles County foster care system, and we will be able to accommodate more kids as our budget grows.  Regardless of the size of the group, Happy Trails believes in nurturing and supporting each of our campers, providing the personal attention so often lacking.

Our program is only as good as our staff.  We seek out talented professionals who will establish meaningful and lasting relationships.  Counselors are trained to be sensitive to individual challenges, while helping to foster a group spirit.  Our team includes staff, board members, committee members and volunteers who believe in the importance of continuity in our program and are sensitive to the needs of our kids.  Several of our staff members have successfully emerged from the foster care system, serving as outstanding role models for the children and making their experiences a resource for our other staff members.  

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