It was a gray drizzly Saturday morning when HEART met with our partner organization Outdoor Outreach for a day trip on the open sea. Outdoor Outreach utilizes outdoor physical experiences to provide youth with the support, relationships, resources and opportunities they need to become successful adults. Two primary drivers facilitate positive transformation in the youth we both serve: the opportunity for ongoing experiences that are safe, fun, positive and challenging, and the relationships developed with supportive adult role models.
As we took to the road all were excited and looking forward to an experience that few had previously experienced… From the start, excitement filled the air during the initial push towards the ocean. Isaiah Coleman would later say” It felt like we were Vikings, driving into the drizzling rain!” After the tour of Sweetwater Marsh wetlands preserve, we went on to the Living Coast Discovery Center.
The Living Coast Discovery Center is a natural treasure on San Diego Bay. Their nonprofit zoo and aquarium is uniquely situated on the Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, offering visitors an ideal setting in which to explore the amazing animals and plants that call our coastal region home. We had the opportunity to prepare the food and feed raptors including Hawks and Eagles! Jacques Morgan stated “Kayaking was an amazing and unforgettable experience for the books after that we went to an aquarium/zoo and some got to feed sea life and raptor life which was an amazing time!!!”
With a diverse collection of animal ambassadors and hands-on, interactive exhibits, the Discovery Center inspires curiosity and exploration of the living earth in guests of all ages. Through these experiences our guys garner a sense of achievement, which increases their confidence, self-esteem and resilience, and enables them to see new possibilities for their lives.
Our youth form long-term mentor relationships through these types of experiences. When youth consistently show up and are supported, it allows them to break out of the negative cycles in their lives, like drugs, gangs, poverty, abuse, and neglect, and replace them with new positive cycles
