The Hike For Happiness was founded by Rav (Ravi Gupta) in 2013 after having to stop working due to treatment resistant depression and anxiety. The first Hike For Happiness took place in May of 2014.
During group treatment Rav noticed that many of his peers were having financial difficulties attending the treatment sessions. Expenses such as child care and transportation were not covered by benefits or government programs. To fill this gap he decided to start a fundraiser.
Since Covid Rav has started to look into how technologies such as Artificial Reality, Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence companionship may help people with mental illness as well has make access easier. His future endeavours may take Hike For Happiness in this direction while continuing existing partnerships.