With the end of the first quarter behind us and having completed the Virginia Beach and San Diego Climb for Courage programs, it's a unique time to reflect on how far we've come. This time last year, we took on the challenge of doubling our programs to reach more families and mentors in all our markets. As a result, we increased our programs by 90% and community event attendance by 120%. Since our founding, we have hosted:
During this time, we have watched kids grow up in our community as "little warriors" to become One Summit interns, volunteers, college students, and founders of their own companies. We've seen our mentors' families grow and are honored to stand by them as they deployed, changed teams, climbed the ranks, joined the OS team, and transitioned out of service to their new life outside of the military.
We've shared stories of resilience, relationships, resources, and education and have changed our mission priorities to better support our entire community. While staying true to our original allegiance to build resilience through experiential learning and mentorship, by understanding the historically demanding schedules of military and cancer families, we equally prioritize the complimentary pillars of Posttraumatic Growth. By building upon our community engagement & storytelling opportunities and staying connected through the Anchor, we've maintained deeper connections, reinforcing a program that is not dependent solely on mentorships.
Our mission always inspires the question, "How do we measure success?" As noted, our model is unique as we are not defined by one set marker but by a balance of multiple wrap-around programming pillars. Quantitatively, we measure through set guidelines, monitoring of relationships, support for mentorships, the Anchor communication platform, tracking the number of touchpoints through our community events, and the confidence in knowing we are not a "one-off" organization and will be there for however long our community needs us.
The qualitative information, the stories of success and resilience, most often from our caregivers' words, proves our work. There is no greater measurement than through the testimonials of our families. From Jenevieve’s Mom:
As we look ahead, we carry the strength of every child, mentor, and family who has walked this journey with us. The numbers reflect our growth, but it’s the stories—the moments of courage, connection, and transformation—that define our success. One Summit is more than a program; it’s a community rooted in resilience and built on the unwavering belief that through understanding, mentorship, and shared experience, we rise stronger together. With every climb, every story, and every shared step forward, we reaffirm our commitment to being a constant source of strength, support, and hope for those who need it most.
