Our chance to give back to the Open Sky Staff

UPDATE 2: We can't thank you enough for all of the support you are providing for guides and other family and child-facing employees with hourly wages! Open Sky reached out today with an ask .. if you or your alumni student is so inclined it would be incredibly meaningful for the field guides to hear from us what impact the guides had on their experience during Open Sky. So much of the negativity in the press has focused on abuse and it is heartbreaking to read these comments when we know that field guides are the everyday heroes supporting our children during their stays in the field with warmth, kindness, and mentoring. Emails can be sent to Executive Director, Emily Fernandes. Gofundme is not a fan of email addresses in stories so here is an approximation ... emily at openskywilderness.com Aho.

UPDATE: Open Sky Family! I spoke with Open Sky today and they will be able to provide some support for guides as operations wrap up mid-February. In light of this news we would like to realign our goal. Any support we can give will provide much needed support during this time of transition. Please help to get the word out to other Open Sky families in your network or support system. Thank you!!

Hello Open Sky Family! My name is Julie Aikins. Like many of you, I was heartbroken to hear about the upcoming closing of Open Sky given the pivotal role that it played for my son and family. The repeated sentiment I have read is that the paths of our children and our families' lives were forever positively changed or saved by Open Sky.

I have often heard since we received this difficult news, what can we do? While the leadership of Open Sky begins the hard work of figuring out what might come next, we'd like to offer one thing we can do now! We would like to fundraise to offer financial support for the Open Sky staff in their immediate loss of employment. While well paid for the industry, we would like to offer support particularly to the 73 hourly employees with student or family-facing positions (field guides, operations, medical, and family care coordinators) that likely do not have a significant financial buffer to easily navigate a loss of immediate income. This sudden loss of employment may have a significant impact on their ability to pay for basic needs such as rent and food while they try to quickly pivot. We would like to target raising $1000 to $1500 per employee ($73,000 to $109,500). February 14th is the last day that Open Sky will be in operation. We will run this fundraiser until then with equal distribution of funds across these employees on February 14th and 15th.

Beyond the magic of nature to heal were the talented, dedicated, hard working, and compassionate therapists and field guides who helped our children to see that hard rights were worthwhile, that their gems were worth finding, and that they were valued. The operations and medical team worked tirelessly to ensure our children were safe, fed, and supplied with all they needed. Our family coordinators kept us in touch via letters and pictures, answered our calls and questions, and managed the logistics of our experiences such as Wellness Weekends and Family Quests. Every member of the Open Sky staff seemed to play a fundamental role in contributing to the ever-intentional and value-driven program that we were so fortunate to experience.

The Open Sky family is a community unlike any other I have experienced. Open Sky cared for our children and our families at what, for many of us, was one of our lowest points. I ask that we now rally together to in turn support them. As little or as much as you can give will be taken with great gratitude. Aho.