Volunteer Feature: Henry and Erica

All of our volunteers are special, but this year, we’ve had the special privilege of working with the mother/son volunteer duo Henry and Erica. Henry is a competitive climber and middle schooler, and Erica may just take the trophy for climbing mom of the year!

Erica and Henry learned about Beyond Boundaries during Henry’s climbing practice at Peak Experiences.

“They used to do an adaptive climbing night on Thursdays when I had practice, and I joined this club at school that required me to have volunteer hours, and I thought I liked climbing and volunteering, and it fit,” says Henry.

After joining Beyond Boundaries on a few trips, Henry and his mother saw the benefits of working with our participants and volunteering together. Both experienced climbers, Henry and Erica, get a lot of joy from helping individuals discover climbing or reach new heights.

“The group with ASCV is always fun to climb with as well. Every participant has a different set of needs and skills, and it’s a different trip for each climber; it’s so fun to see the individual and how they climb. Everyone climbs as themselves and not like anybody else, and it’s such an excellent way for the trips to be inclusive and let people be the self they need,” Erica says.

For Henry, the paraclimbing systems set up by George were a big point of interest. As a technical climber himself, Henry loved seeing how our team sets up comprehensive systems to help climbers of all abilities and body types get up the wall.

“It’s really cool to see them setting it up and how it works. I think it’s pretty cool that we have this thing that we can do that will let anybody climb up the wall,” explains Henry.

Both Henry and Erica have gone above and beyond, building relationships with their climbing partners and making an effort to positively influence our community and climb clubs.

“Having Erica and Henry at programs has been really fun and special. Erica is so kind, compassionate, and easy to get along with, and you can see that in Henry, too. It’s cool that they’re giving back together, and bonding with our participants while being there as mom and son. Henry is extremely encouraging and patient and can give us all the beta we need when we’re stuck. I can’t wait for more adventures with them,” Katie says about the awesome volunteer duo.

Henry is an incredible young man who has taken our principles of Access, Community, and Empowerment to heart.

“It’s really really fun to be with a community of people that share similar interests and want to have a good time and help other people have a good time; everyone is supportive, is nice, it’s cool to volunteer there and help someone have a good time doing a climb,” he says.

For Erica, having her son experience the magic of ‘climb club’ with Beyond Boundaries has been its own reward, and she made it a point to recognize several members of our team individually during our interview.

“I think what’s special about it is that they truly see everyone in that way - not just the participants, but also their family members, the volunteers, the staff at the climbing facility, and anyone else who might happen to come along. They see everyone as full of possibilities, and they’re so committed to helping people actualize those possibilities and celebrate what they’re capable of. I think that’s the real foundation of inclusivity in their approach - it’s the fact that they see the potential in everyone. They can bring people together around that idea of pursuing what’s possible,” she says.

We want to take a moment to thank Henry and Erica for their efforts and to thank all of our volunteers! Learn more about Climb Club and our other awesome volunteer opportunities.