Join Us May 4th, 2023…
The Way to Wilderness…
…The Pathway Home.
Dinner and Auction
Together we can continue helping
our struggling young people and their families.
Thursday, May 4th
6pm to 9pm
World Forestry Center
4033 SW Canyon Rd.
Portland, OR 97221
Get more info, including tickets for this event by CLICKING HERE.
Events
(click on each to expand)
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2023 Way to Wilderness Dinner & Auction!
Get more info, including tickets for this event by CLICKING HERE.
"Wouldn't it be 'tight' if we could
send just one kid a year to Wilderness?"
-Parker-
Don't Just Think, Do
Dear Friends and Family,
We hope your hearts feel lightened by the season. It has been a year of persistence and determination for us as we look forward to the holidays. With your support we have provided generous grants to nearly 90 families since our inception as well as serve more families in 2022 than any other year! Thank You for making this possible, as we speak for the many grateful parents throughout Oregon and Washington who have their children back—transformed.
This year we attended the National OBH Symposium in UT and the International AEE/TAPG Conference in NC representing PBJF. We learned much from peers and experts in the field of Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare, Experiential Education and Adventure Therapy and made many meaningful connections to gain inspiration and support for PBJF and our new community-centered aftercare program called Wilderness4Life. PBJF's clinical planning team has been working hard all year to create this program (formerly Wild Hearts) from the ground up. Would you like to help support our launch in the Pacific Northwest coming Summer 2023!
Parents are continually and desperately asking for safe and supportive local programs to discover that there are few to no community services that will meet the unique needs of their adolescent and young adult children returning home.
Wilderness4Life will fill a much needed void in aftercare programming for teens and young adults returning home from OBH Programs, and long and short term therapeutic programs. It will be an important piece of PBJF’s wrap-around support for families that begins with financial assistance to make it possible to attend OBH Wilderness Therapy Programs through generous grants. PBJF support continues with connections for parents through our in-person Dad and Mom monthly support groups. Soon, PBJF will offer community-centered adventure-based programming for young people to reinforce recovery, support resilience, and relapse prevention in a supportive environment led by a team of experienced coaches.
Our intention in creating Wilderness4Life and all we do at PBJF, is to build belonging and hope for families now and into the future through a shared community. Would you take a few minutes to visit our website, go to our Wilderness4Life page, and check it out? We would love your feedback and answer any questions.
We appreciate how enthusiastic you have been about supporting PBJF and our mission to serve teens, young adults and their families in-crisis find hope and healing through Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare programs and beyond. Now we would like to ask you to join us in “Bringing Wilderness Home.”
With Hope This Holiday Season,
Co-Founders and Parker’s Mom and Dad
“Wouldn’t it be tight if we could send just one kid a year to Wilderness?”--PBJ
“Don’t Just Think, Do.”
- Horace
Ways You Can Support PBJF Mission
SPONSORSHIP
We are offering sponsorship incentives for businesses and organizations at every level. We are being bold in our ask—we know—but if there are folks whose hearts lead them to be a part of helping us lift our local families by becoming a sponsor of PBJF and this expansion of our services for teens and young adults, we would be over the moon with gratitude!
PERSONAL DONATION
If you would like to make a personal donation of any amount to PBJF, we invite you to do so directly on our website at www.pbjf.org or by mail at Parker Bounds Johnson Foundation, PO Box 1989, Lake Oswego, OR 97035. Your involvement matters—no matter your giving level.
AMAZON SMILE
You may also simply designate Parker Bounds Johnson Foundation as your charity of choice as you do you holiday shopping through www.Smile.Amazon.com and Amazon will donate a small portion of your purchase amount to PBJF. Here’s the link: HTTPS://SMILE.AMAZON.COM/CH/81-3500151
JOIN US
Bring your talents and heart of service, and join our PBJF family. Fill out the Interest Form on our website in the Wilderness4Life tab. We are seeking passionate people for roles from program director, coaches, board members, grant writers, social media experts, special event leaders, and more. We will call you and talk!
ATTEND A BENEFIT CONCERT
If you are "Yearning for Christmas'' please join us with ISingChoir at The Reser in Beaverton, Oregon December 3 and 4, 2022 for a festive, joyful, participative holiday concert to benefit PBJF! Ticket price only $10 per seat so bring your friends and family! Get your tickets at www.thereser.org.
SAVE THE DATE
Without further adieu we would like to finally announce, "The Way to Wilderness 3” Auction, Dinner, Dance scheduled for Thursday evening 6pm MAY 4, 2023 at the World Forestry Center, Portland, Oregon. Join us and over 200 friends all dressed in Buffalo Check and Converse Sneakers. Most Creative Costume WINS! Please SAVE THE DATE and reserve your seat or table at www.pbjf.org beginning January 15, 2023!
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Hello Friends…
Hello friends,
We need your immediate support now to continue helping our struggling young people and their families. PBJF has provided grants to 48 kids and their families through 2021. 2022 has started off at a record pace of requests for financial assistance. PBJF has awarded 11 grants so far this year, 4 times our previous years experience. We expect this trend to continue.
We are sparing the time and expense associated with in person fundraising this year by canceling "The Way to Wilderness 3" scheduled for 5/14/22 at the World Forestry Center. Instead we are reaching out directly to you, our past donors, and new sources of help for donations so we can immediately get much needed grants to struggling young people and their desperate families.
PBJF cherishes donations of any amount. We graciously shepherd your contributions directly to young people and their families in need. Please give at one of the levels (Fire Starter, Camper…..Summiter, Sherpa, etc) described on our website; PBJ.org. You can make your donation at www.pbif.org/donations/ or you can mail it to;
Parker Bounds Johnson Foundation
PO Box 1989
Lake Oswego Oregon, 97035.
Please visit our website PBJ.org to learn more about our mission and read about what we have been up to. We have great video content and testimonials in the works to share the stories of our Wilderness program graduates and their families.
Mark your calendars for 5/4/2023, for "The Way to Wilderness" dinner, auction and dance at the World Forestry Center in Portland Oregon.
On behalf of sincerely grateful young people and their families, our Board members and many volunteers, Thank you!!
Dan 503-799-0054 and Liz 503-810-9100
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Stories from the Field: Liz Bounds' Interview
Financial Help for Wilderness Therapy Treatment, Part 2
The cost of wilderness therapy treatment is expensive, yet several organizations will help. In this second of two episodes, we hear stories from leaders of non-profit organizations that help families by providing funds to help pay for wilderness therapy treatment. We talk with John Hunt from Jason William Hunt Foundation, Liz Bounds from the Parker Bounds Johnson Foundation, and Derek Daley from the Loa Fund. We will hear about the history of the organizations, how to apply for funds, and other resources.
Organizations in this episode have specific guidelines for funding. Please check their websites and donate if you can.
The Jason William Hunt Foundation provides funds for wilderness therapy for teens and young adults from all over the country.
The Parker Bounds Johnson Foundation provides funds for young people ages 10-30 who live in the States of Oregon and Washington for wilderness therapy treatment all over the country. Liz's interview starts at 23:30
The LOA Fund provides funds for young adults (ages 18 to 30) to attend wilderness therapy treatment.I would like to Donate!Are you a Fire Starter, a Camper, a Walker, a Trailblazer, a Hiker, a Trekker, a Climber, a Summiter, or a Sherpa?
We welcome your generous donation in any amount.
The Parker Bounds Johnson Foundation is a
GuideStar Silver Transparency NonProfitPBJ Wilderness4Life Moms Support Group & Meet UpsContact Emily Vanderipe
emily.v.wilderness4life@pbjf.orgPBJ Wilderness4Life Dads Support Group & Meet UpsContact Bret Vanderipe
bret.v.wilderness4life@pbjf.org
MISSION
It is our mission to serve young people and their families in-crisis through Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare programs, parent support, and community-centered aftercare.
Families of Oregon and Washington are eligible to receive financial assistance…
…through generous donations.
Families of Oregon and Washington are eligible to receive financial assistance…
…through generous donations.
GOALS
- Provide financial assistance for youth, young adults and their families in crisis who may not be able to afford Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare programs.
- Provide local in-person support for parents and guardians through monthly support group meetings.
- Create a community centered adventure-based aftercare coaching program that promotes resiliency, recovery, relapse prevention as well as fosters belonging, a healthy lifestyle and connection to nature.
- Advocate for mental health awareness and suicide prevention with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).
“Wouldn’t it be ‘tight’ if we could send just one kid a year to Wilderness?”—Parker
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How Do We Help and Who Do We Help?
- We provide financial assistance to Northwest families for their children in-crisis so they may receive care and healing through wilderness therapy programs.
Our grants are designed to help families with financial need so that their child may benefit from the programs and services of our partnering wilderness therapy programs.These are young people ages 12-26 who are struggling with mental, emotional and behavioral challenges.
Our program partners will match our grants 100% for those families that demonstrate financial need and as funds are available. Our goals are to promote the proven effectiveness of wilderness therapy, highlight programs that meet highest standards of quality in the field, advocate for mental health awareness and suicide prevention and to create a supportive community that encourages a healthful lifestyle and connection with nature. -
What is Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare?
- Wilderness therapy or more formally termed--Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare--is a highly comprehensive therapeutic treatment that uses individual therapy, group therapy, adventure therapy, and a family involved approach with immersion in nature as the setting for supportive healing.
It is proven highly effective in the immediate, short and longer term, it is turning young lives around and helping our young and their families heal using newly learned tools and coping strategies that promote self care, self confidence and hope. It is saving lives, saving families and saving our communities, one child at a time
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Why is Wilderness Therapy Needed?
- There is a crisis in our communities within our young population that we must come together to help solve.
Families need real support to help their children. Current data (see www.obhcenter.org) shows an alarming number of kids are suffering from underlying feelings of depression and anxiety at not-seen-before levels. There are many reasons for this, and here are the most compelling you have undoubtedly seen on the news, heard about in your community, or experienced in your own family.
Our young are being exposed to very powerful substances that have become widely available and many are self-medicating with these dangerous and addictive street drugs and too-easily-obtained prescription medications. Many kids isolate alone in front of a computer for hours playing highly addictive and numbing video games while their families watch them withdrawal from social connections and activities they used to enjoy.
Our kids are attempting to self-soothe with destructive behaviors such as cutting and other forms of self harm. Our teens may be struggling with gender identity. They may be acting out in response to the torment of being bullied. Or they may become the bully as a way to hide their pain of feeling powerless. They may be having difficulty staying in school, not able to maintain a job or are facing related problems with the legal system. Many are trapped in addictive behaviors without access to tools and effective support to overcome. And they are dying by overdose.
The opioid crisis is real. And sadly, research shows, that the risk of suicide in young people is higher when addiction is involved. What you hear on the news is not an exaggeration. And it affects us all.
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What’s More?
- Our kids may even be suffering the adverse and frightening mental health symptoms from undiagnosed traumatic brain injury caused by concussion while perhaps playing for years the sports they love while we parents innocently watched on.
And we all know, too, the overachievers, the straight A students, the star athletes, the life of the party, the empaths, or everyone’s best friend who may be hiding their struggle because of stigma and shame. Perhaps most heartbreaking of all is the tragic suicide death of young people in our own communities.
These are our kids who need our collective support to overcome their heavy challenges so they can prosper in life. -
Why did we begin PBJF?
- Our son Parker is one of those bright lights among us who battled for his life against depression, anxiety, mental health challenges, substance abuse, addiction and the probable damage of multiple sports concussion injuries.
He took his own life to find relief from his suffering at the young age of 23. But in the devastating wake of his death and our profound grief, we are inspired to honor Parker’s legacy and deepest wish by helping other struggling young people and their families--so they may find healing and hope. It was in his heart to always want to help others.
Upon his graduation from an excellent wilderness therapy program, he proclaimed that “...every kid graduating from high school should go to Wilderness.” He went on to say that “...even adults should go!” Then he said, “It saved my life.”
We believe it gave us 5 more years with our son that we would not have had. Wilderness gave him 5 more years of hope.
During one of our last family Sunday dinners, he said, “Wouldn’t it be ‘tight’ to send just one kid a year to Wilderness?”...“Let’s do this--let’s start a foundation.”
And so we did.
The Pine Cone
The Ponderosa Pine is a tree that grows taller than all others in climates that would seem unable to support such life. In our recent history, these trees were landmarks of hope and encouragement to many pioneers coming west on the Oregon Trail.
This pine cone fell from the branch of a mighty Ponderosa growing in arid earth under the central Oregon high desert sun.
The cone's scales follow the same spiral curves as those observed in sunflowers, seashells, and the arms of our Milky Way. This beautiful recurring geometry is described mathematically by the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci Numbers, which can be observed within our own bodies and throughout our natural world.
Its symbolism has inspired humanity through time and across civilizations. From ancient Rome to ancient Mesopotamia, it is found in art, architecture, and spiritual symbolism. Osiris--The Egyptian god of transition, resurrection, and regeneration--carried a pine cone staff, and many Hindu deities have been depicted holding a pine cone in their outstretched hand.
The pine cone has been historically associated with enlightenment, spiritual awakening, and the "third eye." The pineal gland is thought to be the physiological center of the "third eye", and resembles a tiny pine cone itself.
A single cone contains seeds that could potentially grow a whole forest of Ponderosa Pines. It opens with the warmth of the sun and closes with the saturation of rain, waiting patiently for favorable conditions.
May the pine cone's beauty and mystery inspire wonder, curiosity, strength, and the sensation of interconnectedness between you and the natural world like is has inspired me.
Breanna B Johnson
Artist
“May the pine cone’s beauty and mystery inspire wonder, curiosity, strength and the sensation of interconnectedness between you and the natural world like it has inspired me.”
—Breanna Bounds Johnson, Artist
Parker Bounds Johnson Foundation
PO Box 1989
Lake Oswego, OR 97035
A GuideStar Silver Transparency NonProfit
Find us on Social Media
If you or someone you care about are in crisis, please call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
CALL 9-8-8
© 2023 Wilderness4Life.org - a Non-Profit Public Charity 501(c)3 Tax ID#81-3500151