City Kids Wilderness Project is a nonprofit outdoor education program for underserved and at-risk inner-city youths (ages 11 to 24) from the Washington, DC metropolitan area.  Our program, focused on experiential learning, joins youth and staff in a cooperative family atmosphere, and we utilize the outdoor, natural environment as a classroom for academic, recreational and life skills. These are valuable lessons for all individuals. At-risk youth, however, lack the systems—home, school and community—that can provide children with the necessary experiences, role models and support. Our program fills this void by offering school-year activities and events, summer camp, job training and academic scholarships.

We help the children transfer lessons learned while at City Kids to real life. The first step is to present the participants with a challenge. The challenge generally has several components physical, intellectual, interpersonal and intra-personal. 

For example, a backpacking trip into the wilderness involves learning outdoor survival skills, preparing the equipment, hiking on difficult terrain, carrying a heavy pack, dealing with the elements and living in an unfamiliar environment. A child may become discouraged and tired, or it may start to rain. Whatever the challenge, our staff is prepared to guide the children, to teach them to be proactive and to help them reach a successful outcome.

This child receives comfort, support and encouragement from adults and peers. Eventually finishing the hike, those who struggled and those who nurtured gain in self-confidence, self-esteem and self-awareness. Leaders emerge from the group, problem solving skills evolve and the children experience the joy of personal and group success. They have fun in a wholesome, natural environment.  Rather than thinking, "I can't do it", City Kids students experience success and say, "I did it."

Our goals are to:

• Strengthen participants’ self-concept, increase academic achievement by teaching life skills
• Increase personal motivation and initiative
• Develop interpersonal skills and leadership ability
• Foster an appreciation and knowledge of the environment