Overview

Program Overview

Big City Mountaineers has three major program components:  RELATE, GO and GOALS.

R.E.L.A.T.E. Program

BCM's core programming is our R.E.L.A.T.E. (Recreational Experiences Linking Adults & Teens Environmentally) program which matches five adult mentors with five teens for a weeklong single-gender backpacking or canoeing trip. BCM R.E.L.A.T.E. trips:

• Provide wilderness opportunities to under-resourced urban teens age 13 - 18

• Provide teens with opportunities to cultivate relationships with caring adult mentors

• Have a unique 1:1 ratio

• Are designed to increase teens self-awareness and self-efficacy

• Are comprised of activities and rituals designed to promote group development and effective communications

• Have been shown to positively impact internal asset development

• Are all single gender

• Pull youth from youth development partner agencies

• Are led by professional field instructors with 4 additional adult volunteer mentors per trip.

G.O. Program

BCM's G.O (Get Outdoors) events are single-day, single-gender outdoor activites in local parks, including hiking, mountain biking, canoeing, snowshoeing and climbing. G.O. events are also used after R.E.L.A.T.E. trips to continue the relationships of teens and adults that experienced our summer program together.

G.O.A.L.S. Program

BCM's G.O.A.L.S (Gaining Outdoor Appreciation and Life Skills) program provides leadership opportunities and vocational training, and helps alumni to assume increasing responsibilities via permanent employment in organizational roles. The G.O.A.L.S. program is designed to develop leadership skills by providing program alumni with meaningful staff roles in BCM's organization.

Currently we seek BCM alumni to fill the following roles on staff:

• Peer Leaders who assist adult mentors in the field on G.O. and R.E.L.A.T.E. programs

• Program Coordinators who assist regional staff with youth agency orientations, parent and teen information sessions, adult team member training, and trip logistics

• Teen Interns who assist staff in BCM’s regional offices.

Youth organizations

BCM collaborates with a wide range of youth program partners. Most of these agencies are community-based youth development programs with a consistent track record of long-term relationships with their youth, and an ability to deliver asset-based programming that complements BCM’s.  We select youth agency partners by their

• length of relationship to the youth

• tenure of staff

• measurement methodologies 

An important point worth noting is that BCM sees youth agencies as clients, as our program has been shown to improve our youth agency partner outcomes, independent of BCM’s own outcomes.

Adult team members

Historically, Big City Mountaineers has involved adult volunteers primaryily as it's "staff" for our R.E.L.A.T.E. and G.O. programs.

Volunteers are part of a 10-person, single-gender team - 5 teens and 5 adults - that lead and deliver our curriculum in all our single or multi-day programs.

Volunteers go through comprehensive training including:

• risk management
• working with youth
• team communication methods
• outdoor skills

Although BCM volunteers are not considered BCM clients, it is worth mentioning that our volunteers often have similar life-changing experiences through their invovlement with BCM as do our direct clients, teen participants.