From Our Foundation to Our Future
On November 15, 2026, Mountain Valley Executive Director Zack Schafer will set out on a 62-mile run connecting Mountain Valley’s humble beginnings to its bright future.
In November 2011, Mountain Valley opened its doors to its first residents. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, four young people and their families arrived at a small building called “The Creamery” in Pike, New Hampshire, to begin their treatment journeys—and so began Mountain Valley.
Within just a few years, Mountain Valley established itself as a leading provider of high-quality residential treatment for young people struggling with anxiety, OCD, and related challenges—and, at the time, one of the only treatment centers doing so in a holistic, non-hospital setting.
We quickly outgrew our small campus in Pike, and in 2018, Mountain Valley moved to a scenic property in Plainfield, New Hampshire, which remains our home today.
Now, 15 years later, we remain a premier therapeutic community for young people and families whose lives have been impacted by fear and anxiety—and we have set our sights on a future in which Mountain Valley can grow beyond adolescent residential treatment, deepen our impact, and help even more people fear less and live more fulfilling lives.
To sponsor the run, click the link below. On the donation page, select “Dedicate My Donation” and enter “Foundation to Future Run” in the dedication field. This will allow us to track your contribution as part of the run.
The Run
To honor and celebrate Mountain Valley’s 15th anniversary—and to inspire others to invest in our future—on Sunday, November 15, 2026, Zack will set out to run from our original campus in Pike to our current campus in Plainfield.
The route will cover just under 100 kilometers and more than 11,000 feet of elevation gain as he traverses the rugged terrain of the Appalachian Trail and the mountains of New Hampshire.
The run will begin at the front door of The Creamery on our former Pike campus and end at the front door of Gallup House on our current campus in Plainfield. Between the two will be about 20 miles of road and approximately 40 miles of technical mountain terrain.
The Vision
This project is about more than simply running from one campus to another. The route, timing, and challenge are intentionally designed to honor the 15 years that have brought Mountain Valley to this point.
Pike to Plainfield — The route from our humble beginnings to our present-day home represents the growth Mountain Valley has experienced over its first 15 years.
The Timing — November marks our 15th anniversary and the month our first residents arrived at our doors in 2011. November 15 felt especially fitting: a Sunday, just as the day Mountain Valley first opened, and the 15th day of the month during our 15th anniversary year.
Perhaps more importantly, November in New Hampshire is a season of transition. It is cold, bare, unpredictable, and not the time most people would choose to complete a run of this magnitude.
But our residents and families do not get to choose the timing of their struggles or when they may need residential treatment. They can only respond to the challenges in front of them, show up, and do the work—no matter how inconvenient or imperfect the timing may be.
The Hard Way — There are shorter, more direct, and easier routes between Pike and Plainfield. This route intentionally takes the harder path, winding south along the Appalachian Trail and through the mountains of New Hampshire.
For 15 years, Mountain Valley has asked young people struggling with anxiety, OCD, and related challenges to do something extraordinarily difficult: move toward the things they fear rather than away from them.
Exposure therapy requires choosing the harder path. It means tolerating discomfort, uncertainty, and fear in service of building a fuller life.
Choosing the more difficult route is meant to be a small tribute to the thousands of difficult steps Mountain Valley residents and families have taken over the past 15 years—and a reminder that meaningful growth rarely comes from choosing the easiest path.
Supporting Our Next Chapter
Mountain Valley is not only honoring our past – but we are also celebrating the beginning of our future.
After 15 years of helping young people and their families through our adolescent residential treatment program, Mountain Valley has outlined a vision to expand our programming, deepen our therapeutic impact, and build an even larger and more vibrant community.
The first major step in bringing that vision to life is the construction of a new, purpose-built dormitory for our adolescent residential program.
This new building will strengthen the experience of our current residents while also freeing existing campus infrastructure to be repurposed for future initiatives, including a young adult residential program, outpatient and community-based services, and other elements of Mountain Valley’s long-term vision for growth.
Making that vision a reality will require the support of donors who believe in Mountain Valley, believe in our mission, and want to invest in what comes next.
The Foundation to Future Run is the first major fundraising effort designed to jump-start our capital campaign and help move us toward our goal of breaking ground in 2027.
To sponsor the run, click the link below. On the donation page, select “Dedicate My Donation” and enter “Foundation to Future Run” in the dedication field. This will allow us to track your contribution as part of the run.
If you’d like to learn more about the run, Mountain Valley’s future, or ways to get involved, please contact Zack directly at zschafer@mountainvalleytreatment.org.