The Stepping Stones Project began in 1999 when a number of rites of passage leaders connected through their work with Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s teen program. Inspired by the interest and demand from middle-school youth and their families for a rites of passage program, project founders developed a multi-year program and curriculum. Stepping Stones Project was launched as a 501(c)(3) non‐profit in 2002. Celebrating over 15 years since its inception, SSP has served more than 1,000 families throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mission and Vision

The Stepping Stones Project guides and supports youth through long term mentoring and contemporary rites of passage. Our vision is to support generations of authentic, integrated human beings committed ​to healthy, heartfelt relationships with self, friends, family, community and nature.

Our Goals & Commitments

• Helping youth develop a strong sense of self and solid internal compass.
• Promoting authentic relationships.
• Fostering opportunities to face challenges and develop confidence and self-esteem.
• Providing a long-term program that allows the time needed to grow unique meaningful relationships to peers, family, community, and nature.
• Addressing key developmental tasks through experiences and conversations to help youth grow from childhood into adolescence, helping lay the foundation for adulthood.
• Creating a nurturing parent community.
  
• An experience of "initiation" into a supportive intergenerational Village-model community.

Our core values are uniquely expressed in each group through games, key conversations, and creative rituals that reflect elements of traditional rites of passages.

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Why Coming of Age?

​Middle school marks a critical period in a young person’s development and is generally acknowledged as one of the most difficult times of a young person’s life. During this time, youth leave the dependence of childhood to take their first steps on the road toward adulthood. 

“This is the phase of life in which most contemporary people get stuck –  and the phase in which most need the greatest support. Adolescence  holds the key to our becoming fully human.”  
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​– Bill Plotkin, Advisory Council

Youth are just beginning to discover their independent selves at this time.  They’re navigating between finding a ‘self’ that is both authentic and socially acceptable.  This is a monumental task, made more confusing as youth shift away from what they have always known in the nuclear family toward their peers and the wider society as a reflection of who they are.  A youth’s sense of well-being and self-worth can start to become dependent on approval from others and conditions outside themselves. This can result in feelings of isolation and lack of belonging. It’s hard to connect authentically to others if you aren’t connected to who you really are.
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In our modern and fast-paced world, youth are under pressure to conform to who they think they need to be to fit in and be "successful.” Without the opportunity to connect to themselves or the time and space for self exploration, they can lose their way. Generally, these developments are happening unconsciously for youth, and intentional practices that help guide and initiate them into the beginning stages of adulthood are crucial.

How does Stepping Stones help?

SSP offers a space for youth to discover their own identity and be initiated into a supportive community through play, exploration in nature, and a rite of passage. ​Stepping Stones is committed to guarding a space for youth to play freely, make mistakes, and develop a true sense of 'self', friendship, and spirituality.
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SSP prepares youth to make healthy choices and have positive experiences in high school, and lays the foundation for them to ultimately cross the threshold of initiation into adulthood. ​Developing and recognizing their true self with purpose rather than just letting it happen is the primary goal of our Coming of Age program.

​Visit our PROGRAM DETAILS page to learn about specifics of the program.