The Value of The Whale Foundation for the Grand Canyon Rafting Community
by Molly Wood-Executive Director, The Whale Foundation
What is The Whale Foundation?
The Whale Foundation has been supporting the wellbeing of the Grand Canyon river guiding community for nearly 30 years. While the organization initially only offered mental health services in the form of free, confidential counseling, programs and services have expanded to include physical health resources in the form of a health insurance stipend and a free annual health fair, educational scholarships, and financial literacy education. Recently, we’ve started to put more energy into events that bring folks together and further strengthen the bond of the community.
How it started & what it has grown to become
The organization was founded when tragedy shook the community, a beloved river guide, Curtis “Whale” Hansen, took his own life after he tried to transition out of guiding and into conventional society. A group of guides who were especially close to him mobilized and transformed devastation into action. Nearly 30 years later, the results of that action persist.
The Whale Foundation now provides over 400 free counseling sessions to over 60 members of the Grand Canyon river guiding community annually. In 2024, 21 individuals received health insurance stipends for a total of nearly $17,000 in awards. Each year, we see an increase in the number of individuals who apply for the educational scholarship; this scholarship can be applied to just about any educational pursuit, from a certificate at a community college, to folks who are getting a PhD, and everything in between.
The Foundation also just restarted our financial literacy program. Ted Dwyer, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) in Flagstaff, AZ has graciously offered current and former guides his services, free of charge. We’re also working with Dwyer Financial to put together presentations on financial literacy to offer the community.
Why this organization is important to me
I can attest firsthand to the positive impact that the Whale Foundation makes in the community. I first heard about the organization when I was getting my master’s degree at NAU. I was in my last semester and the weight of the stress of school was starting to ware on me. I had challenging relationships with my cohort and felt alienated and isolated. My final projects were not only time intensive but also emotionally intensive, I was doing qualitative interviews with people experiencing homelessness; hearing tragedy after tragedy that resulted in people losing everything haunted me and made me feel so small in my ability to help them.
Between school and bartending I was working 60-70 hours a week. I was burnt out and tired and depressed, I joked with friends that maybe a car would hit me on my bike while I was riding to class and that way I’d get a break from everything (looking back, I realize how scary that must have been for them to hear). One day, I had a professor pull me aside after class to express his concern. I was getting my work done, but he noticed that my tone and involvement in class had changed, that I was tired, and my enthusiasm had diminished. I broke down crying and told him what a hard time I was having. He suggested I look into finding a counselor, but I didn’t know where to go for help, I couldn’t afford therapy.
At my outfitters preseason meeting, we were shown The Stress Response scale from the Responder Alliance. I was deep in the red. It was at that meeting that I realized that if I didn’t get help and went into my river season with my mental health suffering like it was, I wouldn’t be able to show up the way I wanted to for my job, my clients, or the Canyon. I certainly wouldn’t be able to respond the way I was trained for a critical incident; I was nervous I would freeze and panic. I had to get help.
The second day of our preseason meeting, a board member from the Whale Foundation came to talk to us about their services. I couldn’t believe it, free counseling? I’d never even see the bill? All I had to do was call the helpline? It seemed too serendipitous and too good to be true. But sure enough, the next day I called the helpline and a case manager called me back within hours. I had an appointment with a therapist the next week.
Who The Whale Foundation helps
People often ask me if accessing the counseling services is contingent on having something traumatic happen on the river or in some other context related to being a guide. And the answer is, absolutely not. The Whale Foundation is here to support the wellbeing of Grand Canyon guides regardless of the source of their struggles. The source of my depression had nothing to do with my role as a river guide, but I knew that it would affect my ability to be a good guide.
The Whale Foundation much such a huge impact in my life, that when I heard the executive director position was open, I decided to step away from full-time guiding, something I hadn’t planned on doing for at least a few years, to apply for the position. I hope the organization can make as big of a difference in other people’s lives as it did in mine. Like our mission says, we’re here to provide support services that promote, restore, and celebrate the health and well-being of the Grand Canyon river guiding community.