2022 has been a record-breaking year for guides seeking Redside Foundation mental health services.

They need your help.

In 2022, your generosity has helped more than 100 guides receive confidential mental health support. The startling reality? We project this number to increase again in 2023.

We traditionally see an increase in the volume of calls to our Guide Helpline starting in October. The shorter, darker days can bring on seasonal affective disorder and depression and highlight difficult seasonal transitions. This is also when guides slow down enough to recognize they need help with challenges like grief and substance use disorder issues.

Through all the uncertainties of the last few years, guides have continued to work to provide fun, safe, and engaging trips in wild places. Guides are not just the cornerstone of the outdoor recreation economy; they also play a vital role as many people’s first mentors in the outdoors and stewards of our public lands. They have been steady leaders through additional challenges, including wildfires, floods, river closures, drought, COVID, and more. Many guides who have put their own struggles aside to ensure their guests have safe and meaningful experiences are now seeking help.

Thanks to your support, talking about mental health or needing help is becoming normalized in the guiding community. Admitting needing help has traditionally been seen as a weakness in a profession that requires mental and physical strength, fortitude, and teamwork. Asking for help can be hard, and thanks to you, guides are asking for and getting the help they need. When the Redside Foundation was founded in 2010, we knew that if our work could help save just one life, we would be a success. Since that inaugural moment, we have met that success in more ways than we will ever know.

You have helped us build a healthier, more connected community of guides in Idaho and now also in Montana and Wyoming. Without the Redside Foundation, where would guides in need turn?

Our services are possible thanks to people like you.

Our Guide Helpline, which provides access to confidential mental health counseling, is at the heart of the Redside Foundation. Yet, good mental health is not a stand-alone issue. We also award professional development grants and academic scholarships, hold an annual health fair, offer a financial health hotline, issue physical health care vouchers, and host community building and educational events. A strong community is a pillar of good mental health. Thanks to your help, we have a stronger, more connected guiding community.

Support the health and wellness of the guiding community by donating to the Redside Foundation now.

Donate today!

* Website: https://www.redsidefoundation.org/donate

* Venmo @redside-foundation (the last four of our phone number is 8090)

* Mail a check to: PO Box 8734, Boise, ID 83707

You can also support our mission by shopping at our online shop.

Providing the critical services of the Redside Foundation ensures not just healthier guides but healthier lives for all.

photo: Kelli O'Keefe

All monies raised in the fall fundraising drive will go directly to fund mental health and substance abuse counseling.

2022 Redside Foundation Fall Fundraiser

Support the Health and Strength of the Professional Outdoor Guiding Community

Team Members