SOS Outreach A Youth Development Charity

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SOS Outreach A Youth Development Charity
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The Urgency of Youth to Sustain Winter Sports
We are 12 years away from a major dip in
participation if we dont build up youth
participation now.
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Current Trends in Outdoor Recreation

• 60 of 9 13 year olds do not participate in
  organized physical activity.
• A 2008 report from the Center for Disease Control
  recorded a double-digit drop in participation in
  outdoor activities among youth aged 6 to 17 from
  2006 to 2007.
• A 2010 report from the National Wildlife
  Federation highlighted that todays youth spend
  on average of 4-7 minutes daily outdoors
  participating in unstructured play.
• By the time todays youth attend kindergarten,
  they have watched on average 5,000 hours of
  television enough time to earn a college
  degree.

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Looking Forward Projected Population Growth Next
25 Years
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Projecting Forward The Changing Face of America
1900s - 1970s 10-13 minority population
25 years ago 20 minority population
Now 34 minority population
25 years ahead 46 minority population
Source US Census Bureau and Reach Advisors
surveys of gt30,000 core museum visitors from gt100
museums
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Current Majority Minority States
Already majority minority (CA, HI, NM, TX DC)
Soon to be majority minority (AZ, GA, MD, MS, NY)
Americas youth population will be majority
minority within 15 years
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Now The Hispanic Market
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Childhood Obesity Since 1971
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Mental Health Issues on the Rise

• Lower socioeconomic status is strongly linked to
  mental health problems
• More than 20 percent of children and adolescents
  have severe mental health problems, yet less than
  20 percent receive treatment
• Mentally healthy children are more likely to
  experience academic success
• 17 of the nations 50 largest cities have high
  school graduation rates below 50 percent
• Source Dr. Gil Noam, Harvard University, 2009
  Study by Americas Promise Alliance, 2008.

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Best Practices for Youth Development

• Emphasize character development
• Include mentorship opportunities
• Establish long-term relationships
• Collaborate with schools and school districts
• Engage in evaluative practices and measurable
  outcomes
• Reliance on a well-developed curriculum
• Leadership training programs

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What is SOS Outreach?

• Headquarters Avon, CO
• Status 501 (c)(3)
• Offers Year-round multi-year outdoor
  recreation programs to build self-efficacy
• Total Participants 5,500 yearly
• 3,500 through snowsports and 2,000 through
  wilderness trips, teams courses, rock climbing,
  hiking and water sports

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The SOS Participant

• 8 18 years old
• Need structure and consistency
• Single-parent and/or low-income homes
• May live with problems such as substance,
  physical and verbal abuse.
• May have multi-generational involvement with the
  court system.
• May struggle academically.

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2009/2010 SOS Participant Demographics

• 64 have a household income less than
  40,000/year.
• 70 self-identified as ethnic minority.
• 26 have one or less adults in their household.
• 30 had no health insurance.

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SOS Programs(program options vary by region)

• Adventure Sessions (1-day)
• Winter options consist of skiing, snowboarding
  and snowshoeing.
• Summer options include teams courses, rock
  climbing, peak ascents, sailing, kayaking,
  surfing, paddle boarding, outdoor living skills,
  hiking and mountain biking.
• Academy Sessions (Multi-day)
• Winter options consist of the Learn to Ride
  snowboard and ski program, 10th mountain division
  hut trips, alpine skiing, telemark skiing.
• Summer options include Wilderness trips, base
  camp trips, 4th grade monument trips and rock
  climbing.
• SOS University Sessions (Multi-year)
• Students commit to a four-year snowboard and ski
  program, with each year requiring an increased
  commitment to community service and personal
  growth.

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SOS Programs Now Focus on Long-Term Character
Development
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SOS Encourages Year-Round Multi-Year
Relationships
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Positive Impacts of Year-Round Multi-Year
Programming

• Immediate operating savings to ensure that more
  of each contribution goes directly to programs.
• Creation of year-round curriculum to increase
  positive program impacts.
• Long-term relationships will be created with
  participants as SOS model across summer
  programs.

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Character Development 5 Core Values
Courage Discipline Integrity Wisdom Compassion
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Youth to Adult Mentorship Ratio 3.2 1
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Full-time Staff Part-time Regional Program
Managers Part-time Resort Program
Coordinators Part-time Sherpas SOS
Volunteers Youth Agency Counselors Mountain
Instructors Summer Program Guides
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140
750
240
530
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SOS Participant Evaluative Outcomes

• Comparative skiographics
• Health impacts
• Positive behavioral impacts
• Increases in self-esteem
• Potential for increasing the likelihood of better
  socio-economic status
• Quantify potential long-term economic benefits to
  the snowsports industry

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SOS Health Impacts
SOS participants engaged in significantly more
aerobic exercise and more sports than their
peers. Self assessed health related to likelihood
of continuing long-term in snowsports.
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SOS Positive Behavior
On average SOS participants scored higher than
their peer group on measures of positive behavior
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SOS Protective Factors Questions
Developed by Dr. Peter Witt at Texas AM, the
protective factors questions are administered pre
and post SOS participation. They were also
measured in this survey. The scores increased
significantly with time, suggesting a lasting
effect of SOS exposure.
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SOS Positive Life Trajectory
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SOS Long-Term Program Impacts

• The data conservatively indicate that 1 in 4 SOS
  participants will go to college and return to the
  sport as active participants.
• They will do so with annual household incomes
  that are roughly 75 percent greater than
  non-degree holders.
• They will enter the participant base at exactly
  the point were we need more youth and greater
  diversity, roughly 7 to 10 years from now.
• There is a proven multiplier effect, therefore
  they are likely going to bring friends and family
  outdoors.

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SOS Long-term Potential to Fill the Gap

• Assuming they return to the sport in their
  mid-twenties, their cumulative lifetime value, in
  terms of only lift ticket revenue would
  conservatively be 30,100.
• Looking at it at the individual level, for every
  one child that progresses through the SOS
  program, roughly 7,500 in lift ticket related
  revenue is generated long-term.
• At its current size, SOS is putting roughly 6,250
  additional visits in the pipeline every year.
• At current average spend per day levels, that
  translates into roughly 6.2 million per year in
  incremental revenue to resorts.

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Success Story
My son has benefited enormously from
participating in the SOS program. He can explore
challenges and friendships in an environment free
from the pressures of school, and is recognized
for what he brings to the team rather than by
academic standards. SOS has helped him grow as a
person, push his personal limits, give back to
the community, learn skiing and interpersonal
skills, and has contributed to building his
confidence, self esteem and sense of selfSOS
really gives him a chance to shine. -Parent of
a University Program Participant
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SOS Outreach P.O. Box 2020 Avon, CO
81620 970.926.9292 sos_at_sosoutreach.org