Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Currently in Illinois, youth are not receiving adequate mental health services. At any point in time, one in 10 children in Illinois suffers from a mental illness severe enough to cause some level of impairment; yet in any given year, only about 20% of these children receive mental health services. This is due to many factors, including lack of access to affordable services, cultural beliefs surrounding therapy and negative attitudes based on past experiences. Further, while many families now have health insurance, high deductibles, copays and out-of-pocket expenses make the cost of mental health services increasingly unaffordable. Adventure Works is an accredited outdoor behavioral healthcare program that seeks to reduce these barriers by providing a full spectrum of integrated healthcare services including prevention, education, mental health counseling and positive youth development programming to underserved youth in DeKalb County and surrounding areas.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Adventure Therapy Services
Adventure Works primarily serves youth ages 4-18 and believes that people of any age can benefit from our effective approach to counseling. In conjunction with the use of adventure activities, our therapists provide an engaging way of counseling to promote growth and change, often called adventure therapy.
Our program is evidence supported and we were recently published in the Journal of Social Work for Groups. Adventure Therapy services include group, individual and family services.
Adventure Works therapists are committed to a client-centered approach incorporating the most effective and appropriate treatment options for their client(s). By working as a partner in the process, therapists can help identify a client's own strengths and supports to meet their goals.
Adventure Works is a non-profit organization and strives to provide counseling services to youth regardless of their ability to pay using a sliding fee scale, supplemented by grants and donations from the community.
Team Building
In addition to counseling, Adventure Works also offers Team Building for youth and adults. Team building for youth promote Positive Youth Development and are designed to encourage healthy risk taking and to nurture positive behaviors, which include: Competence, Confidence, Character, Compassion, Connection, and Contribution. Adventure Works incorporates the 40 Developmental Assets identified by the Search Institute as the 40 positive supports and strengths that young people need to succeed.
Adventure Works can facilitate engaging programs for your business, school, church, or organization. Creativity is key to our community-based work. We can design activities to promote team-building, communication, problem-solving, goal setting, or even facilitate outdoor education/adventures...all based on your group needs.
Where we work
External reviews

Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Adventure Works defines success through the positive growth experienced by clients and their families and through growth of the organization. Adventure Works has established the following goals for its work:
1. Reduce stigma associated with mental illness.
2. Provide experiences that will enhance the learning and therapeutic environments.
3. Alleviate the poverty of positive experiences that affects those living in financial poverty.
4. Provide alternative approach for those who have not been successful in traditional/office-based therapy.
5. Build the “6 Cs” of PYD in youth: Confidence, Connection, Character, Commitment, Compassion and Contribution to community.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Adventure Works is an accredited outdoor behavioral healthcare program that provides a full spectrum of integrated healthcare services including prevention, education, mental health counseling and positive youth development programs to underserved youth.
Adventure Works accomplishes its goals through the following strategies and programs:
Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare (Adventure Therapy): Adventure Works’ outdoor behavioral healthcare programming relies on adventure therapy, which is the prescriptive use of adventure experiences provided by mental health professionals, often conducted in natural settings that engage clients on cognitive, affective and behavioral levels. Examples of adventure therapy activities include walking to the nearby lagoon, going on a nature walk, slacklining on property, playing basketball, or participating in a challenge course. Adventure Works serves children and adolescents through age 26 and will accept any individual in need of treatment regardless of their ability to pay. Youth are often referred to Adventure Works in situations where traditional counseling methods have been unsuccessful. Group, individual and family Adventure Therapy at Adventure Works is accredited by the Association for Experiential Education Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare standards.
Team Building Programs: Through its team building programming, Adventure Works provides group-based activities in the school and business setting. Team building sessions focus on developing positive behaviors through activities that incorporate healthy risk-taking. Whenever possible, these groups engage in outdoor activities aligned with the tenets of adventure programming. Adventure Works’ PYD programs seek to develop in youth the “Six C’s” of prosocial behavior: Competence, Confidence, Character, Compassion, Connection and Contribution to the community. Adventure Works team building programming is accredited by the Association for Experiential Education adventure program standards.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Adventure Works is an industry leader in providing mental health treatment through outdoor behavioral healthcare. In 2017, Adventure Works earned national accreditation as an outdoor behavioral healthcare (OBH) program by the Association of Experiential Education (AEE). As one of only twenty nationally accredited AEE-OBH programs, Adventure Works offers evidence-based treatment and is committed to adhering to above industry standards of ethical care, treatment evaluation and risk-management practices that have been developed exclusively for outdoor behavioral healthcare programs.
Adventure Works’ programs are approved by AEE and the OBH Council and are guided by evidence-based practice. Outdoor behavioral healthcare treatment has been validated through peer-reviewed research, and the National Association for Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP) engages in ongoing research to examine the effectiveness of programs addressing behavioral health. Adventure Works is one of the outdoor behavioral healthcare programs included in NATSAP’s research database.
Adventure Works employs a team of highly trained therapists to work with youth of all ages and to utilize tenants of outdoor behavioral healthcare. Adventure Works has experienced a steady, if not increasing, demand for its services year after year, revealing that youth desperately need the quality mental health treatment Adventure Works offers. Adventure Works offers life-changing mental health treatment in a setting not offered by other mental health providers in DeKalb County. Not every adolescent responds to traditional talk-therapy treatment, and the level of demand for the Adventure Therapy Program reveals that youth and their families are seeking innovative treatment options. Further, Adventure Works is available to bring its program to youth, reducing the barrier to access many families face. Adventure Works therapists go to local schools and community centers to provide outdoor behavioral healthcare to youth with no means for traveling to the office location.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2017, Adventure Works engaged in a rigorous study to assess the changes in youth engaged in its programs. This study, published (May 2018) in Journal of Social Work with Groups, found that clients who participated in Adventure Works' adventure therapy activities showed improvement in overall functioning as well as in areas related to personal relations and critical items. Adventure Works’ participation in this study builds on a body of research supporting the use of adventure therapy as an effective intervention in community setting. Through this research study, Adventure Works was not only able to expand upon and validate its existing program, but also to provide other outdoor behavioral healthcare programs with a successful example to replicate and build upon.
Results of prior evaluations reveal that Adventure Works is successfully supporting youth and their families. A 2017 evaluation by an independent consultant found that youth developed positive attitudes about themselves and their treatment through adventure therapy; parents were confident in the process and saw positive change in youth; and the unique model of adventure therapy made an impact beyond Adventure Works’ clients. Additionally, relieving negative stigma is crucial to engaging youth in meaningful growth. Adventure Works’ clients not only let go of their negative associations with therapy, but also enjoyed their experiences with Adventure Works so much that they talked about it with friends and at school. Similarly, parents reported that their children were motivated to attend sessions, were engaged in the process, and felt positively about the outcomes of their therapy. One hundred percent of the parents also reported that Adventure Works offered a safe place to learn, that their child was treated with dignity and respect, that they had a clear understanding of the program goals and objectives for their child, and that they would recommend Adventure Works to others.
Adventure Works continues to grow its programs and expand its reach in DeKalb County and surrounding areas. It provides quality mental healthcare services to youth who do not thrive in traditional talk-based therapy and is committed to serving every adolescent, regardless of their ability to pay. Finally, through its AEE-OBH accreditation and partnership with NATSAP, Adventure Works looks forward to contributing to a national body of research exploring the impacts of outdoor behavioral healthcare.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Adventure Works of Dekalb County
Board of directorsas of 06/01/2023
Don Billington
Retired Educator
Term: 2020 - 2023
Don Billington
Retired Education/Community Member
Jane Dargatz
Retired Educator/Community Member
Mary Gentile
Sycamore School Dist/Social Worker
Karen Simmons
Genoa Kingston School District
Bakarr Bah
Morewithus.com
Patrick McMillion
Westminster College Professor
Christi Castenson
Retired educator
Cynthia Luxton
Retired nurse and higher education
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
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