Photo: Contributed

An Okanagan woman who took her fight against youth homelessness to the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro is happy to be back home and is thanking those who helped support her cause.

Victoria Schermel, a youth outreach worker for the Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs, successfully summited Mount Kilimanjaro on Oct. 19.

Schermel describes the climb as the toughest thing she has ever done in her life.

She climbed for eight days in total, six and half days up, and one and a half days down. She was in a group of 15 who were all raising money for their own respective charities.

The group trekked anywhere from five to 15 hours each day. Schermel says “It took everything in me to make it to the top, mentally and physically. There were times I wanted to give up. It is do-able, but it is extremely difficult.”

Schermel has raised over $8,000 for Journey Home, with all the funds going towards the Upstream Project, a prevention-based school program that uses an assessment tool to detect early risk of street involvement with youth.

Schermel fell just short of her goal of raising $10,000, but wants to thank all those who supported her and is still accepting last-minute donations.

After recuperating from her expedition, Schermel hopes to use the experience to help inspire the youth she works with.