Outdoor Campus Stewardship VISTA: Build Trails

Hearty Roots was founded in 2017 by Haley Bezon, a guidance counselor who saw how mental health support for youth wasn’t meeting kids where they were. A deep believer in the power of the natural world to provide the perfect backdrop for mindful social-emotional skill-building and restoration, Haley began to develop programming to serve the kids of Lincoln County, Maine, including summer camps and year-round in-school and after school one-on-one counseling by licensed therapists.

In 2025 alone, Hearty Roots served more than 600 kids and offered no-questions-asked scholarship support to over 50% of their families. Maine has the highest rate of youth mental health with 1 in 4 having at least one mental health diagnosis, so the need is great and Hearty Roots is rising to the challenge of caring for Lincoln County’s kids.

The VISTA will support and build the capacity of Hearty Roots by researching design and implementation strategies and creating plans for us to improve our facilities and infrastructure and create new trails. These improvements will allow us to grow and be able to provide more programming, providing an out-of-the-box experience to improve the physical and mental health of youth and help them build new skills that will help them break out of the cycle of poverty.

The VISTA Member will also create a volunteer program to further sustain this youth programming.

• Living Allowance
• Relocation Allowance
• Choice of Education Award or End of Service Stipend
• Training
• Health Coverage*
• Childcare assistance if eligible

• Permits working at another job during off hours
• Permits attendance at school during off hours
• Car recommended

• Environment
• Education
• Children/Youth

• Environment
• Team Work
• Leadership
• Youth Development

03/02/2026- 03/01/2027

Full Time

Minimum:18 Maximum:

None

MAINE

From 12/08/2025 To 09/01/2026

Sol Carpenter
Goodwill NNE Ameri Corps
Portland ME 04103