A rendering of the campus Hearty Roots hopes to construct. After six years of being purposefully portable, the nonprofit is searching for a permanent home and launched a capital campaign to raise $1.5 million by the end of 2023. (Image courtesy Hearty Roots)
After six years of being purposefully portable, Hearty Roots is looking to find its permanent home, kicking off a $1.5 million capital campaign to purchase a campus for mindful adventures.
“We’re going into our seventh year, and we’ve proved to ourselves that we can be scrappy and resourceful,” said Haley Bezon, the nonprofit’s executive director. “Now it’s time to get rooted.”
Bezon founded Hearty Roots with the original mission to provide weeklong summer camp programs for preteen girls to help foster mindfulness, resiliency, and self-esteem. Since 2017, the organization has grown to offer sessions for all children, expanded to year-round programs, and cultivated relationships with local schools.
The number of children participating in Hearty Roots programs has also increased. In its third year, the nonprofit saw 67 enrollments. Now, that number has nearly tripled, and is only projected to increase more, Bezon said.
“We’re looking at what our capacity is, and we know that in order to grow our service and the amount of kiddos we are able to serve, we need to have a home base,” said Shannon M. Parker, coordinator of the organization’s capital campaign.
With the help of community partners like Midcoast Conservancy, Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust, Boothbay Region Land Trust, and the Boothbay Region YMCA, Hearty Roots has been able to offer pop-up camps and overnight adventures in locations throughout Lincoln County. These partnerships provide participants and their families the added benefit of learning more about the community in which they lived.
“We’re showcasing our area and in some cases, introducing these kiddos to some place they didn’t know was right up the road from their house,” Hearty Roots Deputy Director Jess Ruhlin Donohoe said. “They can come back with their families and learn that … adventure is in their own backyard.”
It’s a similar connection to what the Hearty Roots team hopes participants will have to a new, permanent space, one the organization and the children it serves will have complete ownership over. By having a fixed space, not only would the organization be able to expand its offerings by 50%, but it would also provide a home base for the kids and families from childhood into young adulthood, Bezon said.
“It will give a great consistency, just the ability to come back to the same place and see the same tree every year … they’ll be able to watch that same tree grow as they do year after year and form that deeper connection,” Ruhlin Donohoe said.
The “dream” campus for Hearty Roots would be a waterfront property in Lincoln County, Parker said, as it would allow for both spaces for program participants, like yurts, multi-use trails, and a climbing wall and low ropes course, as well as a headquarters for the organization’s administrative office.
Taproot Therapeutic Adventures, a one-on-one outing program connecting students with mentors, after-school social groups, and traditional vacation expeditions would all take place at the campus, as would community-based offerings, such as grief counseling, support groups, family retreats, and vocational training, Bezon said.
“The possibilities would be unlimited to what we can offer,” Bezon said.
In order to make that dream a reality, Hearty Roots has set the aggressive goal of raising $1.5 million by the end of 2023. The capital campaign kicked off quietly last month, during which the organization raised $350,000, including a $250,000 match from the Peter Alfond Foundation.
The campaign has received buy-in from community leaders and local business people as well.
“We’ve all benefited from having a mentor,” Dennis Hilton, of Cheney Financial Group, said. “So when an organization can meet local kids on a hike, in the schools, during school breaks, and provide mentoring all summer long … well, that’s the stuff that builds community and keeps us strong.”
“As a mom and lifelong conservationist, I love how Hearty Roots nurtures kids in nature,” said Eleanor Kinney, owner of River House in Damariscotta. “They focus on the inner life of kids while immersing them in some of the most beautiful places the Midcoast has to offer. I’m excited to help them establish a home base where they can grow their programs to meet the need in our community.”
With the support the campaign has received so far, the leaders of Hearty Roots are confident the goal will be met.
“We know it’s going to take a village – it’s a lot to take on,” Parker said. “But this community is full of pioneers, people who want to change the status quo and help kids be kids, and those are the people who are going to be … the reason we’ll be able to put our foot on the shovel to break ground.”
For more information about Hearty Roots and the Campus for Mindful Adventure capital campaign, go to heartyroots.org.
