2020 certainly has been one of the most trying of years for just about everyone. It has taken some time and finesse to approach our new normal as a program, let alone a society in general. This time has called for creativity and increased flexibility in our students, staff, and programmatic process. We are excited to share how we've doing that!
Our first creative response to 2020 was the creation of program work opportunities. Our students submitted resumes, dressed the part for interview, and went through the hiring process as they would have in any other job setting.
We created three days of work per week, each with its own theme.
On Mondays, Noah Lattin and Dan Phillips began a construction project with the students to remodel the garage at our young men's house. When completed, this space will offer a place for us to exercise, do yoga, hang out, play games, or seek solace. Noah and Dan worked with the students on design development, safety measures, and proper use of all the contruction equipment and tools.
Fun fact about our garage space: The original home owner was a mortician. The garage was built so that he could pull hearses in. Perfect story for around a camp fire!
Tuesdays became a day for service. Emily Phillips spent months making soups and care packages for any emergency situation where a family in our community may be in need. Lena Morgan added in local non profit projects and environmental stewardship opportunities. One of our community project days took us to Ogden's Dinosaur Park where we hung lights in preparation for their annual Halloween event. The Dinosaur Park has experienced budget cuts due to 2020. Our assistance cut hours of paid labor to help the kids in our community safely celebrate the upcoming holiday.
Hunter Sheffield manned the projects around the Echo houses. He and the students dug out a fire pit in the backyard and made two trips to a local BLM rock quarry to harvest the materials for the fire pit ourselves. Since it's near completion, the students have been enjoying weekend fires and S'mores while sharing stories of Wilderness or other life adventures in friendship. The students also worked with Hunter to create a greenhouse, rain barrel water collection (still a work in progress), and planted garden areas at both of our houses.