Abbotsford & Chilliwack · British Columbia
FVSS runs hands-on camps for at-risk youth. Kids learn to set up a camp, tie a knot that holds, treat an injury, read a map — and finish something they started, with adults who show up for them.
Two programs
Both programs are built the same way: real skills, taught in order, with something the youth keeps at the end to prove they did it.
Outdoor skills
Six modules that run in sequence and end in a team relay. No prior experience needed.
Youth author program · led by Mayalyn Hardee
A youth author camp where young writers find their voice, shape an idea into a story, and learn how books actually get made — offered as a one-day intensive or a three-day camp.
Youth author program · led by Mayalyn Hardee
Youth Author Camp
A Fraser Valley Survival Society program
Rise & Write is a three-day youth author experience designed to help young people discover their voice, develop their ideas, and learn how stories grow from an idea into a book.
Led by author, publisher and educator Mayalyn Hardee, participants experience creative writing, mentorship, confidence-building, storytelling, and real-world publishing education.
Young writers don't just learn about writing — they create, collaborate, develop their own stories, and discover that authorship is something they can actually achieve.
Rise & Write Intensive
A condensed, hands-on author experience that moves through the core stages of creating a book in one session — Find Your Voice → Build Your Story → Discover Publishing. Participants develop a story idea, explore characters and structure, learn how books are illustrated and published, and get an introduction to marketing and earning as an author.
Youth Author Camp
Separate & optional · not a Fraser Valley Survival Society program
Word Precise Youth is a publishing program run by Mayalyn Hardee through Word Precise Studio. It sponsors select graduates of the Rise & Write writing program to take their stories all the way through publishing and become actual published authors.
Explore Word Precise YouthSchools, camps, libraries, community organizations and youth events can host either the one-day intensive or the three-day author camp. Get in touch and we'll find a format that fits your group.
Bring Rise & Write to your youthThe badge tracker
This is the same tracker that runs through the workbook. A youth earns a badge by doing the skill in front of a mentor — not by sitting through a talk about it.
01
Pick ground that stays dry, pitch a tent that holds in wind, and set up a site you can actually live in.
02
The handful of knots that do most of the work outdoors — tied slowly, then tied again under time.
03
Six steps to run when someone is hurt, practised until nobody has to stop and think about it.
04
Read a map, take a bearing, and find the way back without a phone in your hand.
05
What to carry, what to do in the first ten minutes, and how to stay found instead of lost.
06
A team relay that stacks every skill from the week together, against the clock.
Formats
Single session · new group each time
All six modules, condensed. Built for schools and agencies that can only free up one day. Fire starting is not included in this format.
One group over two days, or two groups
The full six modules with real practice time, plus fire starting. The most common way we run the camp.
Full curriculum
Everything in the two-day camp with extended navigation, more practice on every skill, and the complete final relay.
Who runs it
Founder
Fifteen years as a federal corrections officer and three decades in the trades, all of it in the Fraser Valley. FVSS came out of watching what happens to young people who never got taught how to handle themselves.
Executive Director & Brand Ambassador
Mayalyn Hardee is an author, publisher and educator who helps aspiring writers turn their ideas into published books. She brings real-world writing and independent publishing experience into youth programming, helping young people develop their voices, build confidence and understand how ideas can become books. Mayalyn is also the founder of Word Precise Youth, which provides an optional continuing pathway for young writers interested in completing and publishing their own books.
Where the money goes
Every dollar goes into the day itself. A session covers the gear, the food and the materials each youth walks away with — nothing gets spent on offices or overhead.
A business can fund an entire session and be named on the camp materials. Get in touch and we'll walk you through exactly what a sponsorship covers.
Get involved
Open to parents, guardians, schools and agencies. Send the youth's name, age and the session you want, and we'll confirm a spot and send the consent forms.
Start a registrationYou don't need to be an expert. You need a free day, patience with teenagers, and a clean criminal record check. We'll train you on the module you're running.
Ask about volunteeringGear, food, transportation or funds. Local businesses can sponsor a full session and be named on the camp materials that go home with every youth.
Talk to us about sponsoringContact
Fastest way to reach us is a phone call or a message on Instagram.
Referral partners, school districts and community agencies are welcome to call directly about booking a session for a group.
