Our 9 yo daughter had been having a hard time last winter. We had just removed her from a school where there was a lot of stress and unkindness and then she had a severe fracture of her leg while skiing. It was a blow to her confidence and we watched her, for the first time, worrying that the world might be an unsafe place. Heron welcomed her into the fold and the group even pulled her through the woods on a sled so she could continue non-weightbearing with her fractured leg.

The first day I dropped her off it was sub-zero winter weather and I left many phone numbers sure that she would need to be picked up early. Quite the contrary----when I came at pickup time she was the last one to leave and kept playing and talking with the happy group while the parents shivered miserably in the parking lot. It is a magical program where everyone is special. For our daughter it was more—she learned to feel safe in the world again, to trust her body and her knowledge and be empowered again. Thank you Frank and all the amazing leaders there!

She learned: how to identify poison ivy and plantain, cordage, carving the right way, how to "fox walk," how to pass a tool or a weapon safely.