Updated June 23rd, 2023
Everyone outdoors
Five Rivers MetroParks’ 2021 summer issue of ParkWays included a story about Jacey Campbell, local veteran and mom, and her experiences as a MetroParks volunteer. Identifying as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, Campbell appreciates nature as a venue where she can be herself and decompress from the stressors of everyday life.
Indeed, nature is for everyone: all races, gender identities, body shapes, ethnicities, religions, abilities and beyond. MetroParks is committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive experience for every visitor and encourages parkgoers to do the same.
Marginalized communities may often experience challenges with equitable health and wellness resources, which is why nature is such an important resource for physical health and mental respite.
You can explore this topic more by listening to the 2021 Virtual Adventure Speaker Series Panel: The Adventure Color Gap: Diversity in the Great Outdoors
Need some help finding your community in the outdoors or ways to get connected? Check out some of the resources below:
Major Taylor Cycling Club Dayton: An organization with the purpose of promoting cycling to novice, intermediate and advanced riders.
Color Outside: Creating safe spaces where women of color can come together and create unapologetic, soul-stirring lives through outdoor adventure.
LGBT Outdoors: LGBT Outdoors exists to connect the LGBTQ+ community to the outdoors.
Jenny Bruso & Unlikely Hikers: A diverse anti-racist, body-liberating outdoor community featuring the underrepresented outdoors person.
Outdoor Afro: The nation’s leading cutting-edge network that celebrates and inspires Black connections and leadership in nature.
Latino Outdoors: A nonprofit that inspires, connects and engages Latino communities in the outdoors and embraces cultura y familia (culture and family) as a part of the outdoor narrative — ensuring history, heritage and leadership are valued and represented.
Melanin Basecamp: Founded to increase the visibility of outdoorsy Black, indigenous and other people of color to increase representation in media, advertising and in the stories told about the outdoors.
Native Women’s Wilderness: A nonprofit that inspires and raises the voices of all Native women in the outdoors and provides education about the beauty and heritage of their ancestral lands.
Fat Girls Hiking: A body-positive activism, body liberation and outdoor community.
Black Girls Do Bike: An organization interested in growing and supporting a community of women of color who share a passion for cycling.
Adaptive Sports Ohio: An organization that removes barriers to ensure that individuals with physical disabilities have a chance to play and utilize sports to elevate ability and empower futures.
Did we miss a local, regional or national organization you think should be added to this list? Let us know.
