Our award-winning work at Peterssen/Keller Architecture is guided by our respect for the environment, an understanding of how a home should relate to its surroundings and the needs of its residents, as well as its enduring quality. The values that guide our designs were instilled in me years ago when, as a child, I fell in love with the wilderness.
I was 12 years old when I went on my first Boundary Waters adventure with Wilderness Inquiry. I’m the son of a single mom, a hard working nurse, and didn’t have access to the summer camps or the programs my peers enjoyed. WI offered me a real camping trip with guides who served as mentors. We canoed the crystal clear deep water lakes, explored the piney northern woods, slept under the stars, and paddled along the rocky shores of northern Minnesota. On that first trip, I worked with people who had both physical and mental differences and came to appreciate how much we have in common, how much I could give and how much I could learn.
Through the years, I learned to guide WI trips to the BWCA, Canada, and Yellowstone, sharing adventures with a range of people — boys recovering from cancer, Vietnam veterans and their families, and kids, just like me, who needed a chance. I loved this work, every bit of it. At 6-feet tall, I was strong as a bear and happy to serve, but at the time I didn’t realize that I was gaining just as much as I was giving. I now understand that I was one of the “underserved kids” that WI helps to grow and develop and I appreciate how invaluable WI adventures truly are.
Every year, I donate 1 percent of my annual income to Wilderness Inquiry to support kids who need a chance–just like I did. Please help me share the adventure; give to WI, today.
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