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From YouTube: Our Neighbor's Keeper: Spring & Summer Wellness
Description
On this episode of Our Neighbor's Keeper, Josiah Gilliam talks Marcus Shoffner from Venture Outdoors, Maria Rose from Ascend Climbing, and Joanna Lemmon from the Student Conservation Association.
A
All
right
good
afternoon,
everybody
happy
thursday
and
thank
you
so
much
for
your
time
whether
you're
joining
us
live
or
after
the
fact
we
appreciate
your
attention,
your
interest
in
these
topics.
As
many
of
you
know,
we've
been
doing
a
series
of
broadcasts
exploring
interesting
work,
that's
happening
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh
and
local
government
in
our
nonprofit
space,
with
community
partners
and
with
local
leaders
and
as
far
as
the
my
brother's
keeper
work
goes.
A
A
To
take
advantage
of
as
we're
all
coming
out
of
covid
and
trying
to
get
back
to
a
bit
of
normalcy,
so
without
further
ado,
I'm
going
to
jump
into
a
round
of
introductions,
let
them
introduce
themselves
and
then
we'll
jump
right
into
the
exciting
work
that
they
do.
My
friends,
thank
you
so
much
for
taking
the
time,
if
you
would
just
you
know
your
name
and
how
you
would
like
to
introduce
yourself.
However,
that
is
for
your
organization
and
we'll
start
with
marcus.
C
D
A
A
B
Yeah
sure
thing
so
venture
outdoors
we've
been
here
in
pittsburgh
service
in
southwestern
pa
for
20
years.
This
is
our
20
year
anniversary.
Hurrah
we
made
it.
We've
really
been
a
hub
for
outdoor
recreation,
really
offering
seasonal
modalities,
whether
that
be
hiking
or
biking
or
even
snowshoeing
in
the
winter
and
fishing
and
whatnot,
and
really
trying
to
make
that
accessible
to
as
many
people
as
possible.
So
we
do
that
through
multiple
different
avenues
as
well,
so
we
also
have
kayak
pittsburgh
under
our
umbrella
as
a
service
offer.
A
B
Yeah
sure
thing,
so
my
role
has
really
evolved
through
a
lot
of
different
behind
the
scenes
work
for
me
personally,
so
my
personal
story
is
a
little
bit
different,
I'm
not
from
pittsburgh
pennsylvania
originally
from
north
carolina.
I
relocated
here
about
30
years
ago,
and
I've
been
in
the
outdoor
industry
for
the
longest
of
time.
A
Yeah,
so
you
mentioned
this
idea
of
representation,
and
you
know
certainly
with
this.
With
this
broadcast
and
my
role
in
the
office
of
equity,
we
talk
a
lot
about
these
terms.
Can
you
talk
a
little
bit
about
what
the
concept
of
equity
means
to
you
and
to
venture,
and
then
can
you
tell
us
about
how
the
outdoor
inclusion
coalition,
you
know,
really
came
to
be
because
it's
a
cool
story
of
organizations
kind
of
coming
to
the
table?
As
I
understand
it,.
B
Yeah,
absolutely
so
equality
to
me,
and
especially
in
the
realm
of
outdoor
recreation,
is
equality
of
opportunity
and
access
spanning
through
everyone,
starting
at
different
positions.
When
it
comes
to
outdoor
recreation
and
that's
of
no
fault
of
their
own,
you
know
they
could
be
in
a
location
that
is
landlocked.
They
could
be
in
a
location
that
is
blight
or
specific
away
from
a
green
access
area.
So
there's
a
lot
of
considerations
to
that.
B
So
roughly
50
to
55
organizations
are
coming
together
at
this
point,
spanning
from
community
members
to
for-profits,
to
non-profits,
to
even
governmental,
to
make
sure
that
we're
appropriately
addressing
these
things,
not
from
the
top
up,
but
really
from
the
bottom,
to
the
top
making
sure
that
community
members
are
represented
and
hearing
their
voices
appropriately.
The
next
generation
is
appropriately
represented
because
we're
not
shaping
for
them.
B
A
Just
want
to
ask
a
couple
questions
or
get
into
a
little
bit
of
specifics.
Who
was
a
part
of
the
initial
steering
committee
for
the
outdoor
inclusion
coalition
and
then
how
have
you
gone
about
doing
outreach
to
invite
people
to
the
table?
I
think
it's
always
interesting
to
hear
how
folks,
in
a
non-profit
space
navigate
and
for
those
that
aren't
familiar,
I
think
it's
a
great
story
of
how
connected
we
all
can
be.
B
B
Committee,
including
like
pittsburgh
as
well,
but
authentically
the
conversations
were
really
about
what
is
your
experience
within
the
outdoor
industry?
I
put
kind
of
air
quotes
around
that
because
it
spins
and
the
intersectionality
is
so
coupled
specifically
conservation
work
to
stewardship,
to
green
infrastructure,
to
recreation,
that's
kind
of
the
core
pieces,
but
we
also
need
to
understand
the
intersections
between
recreation
and
how
you
know,
youth
providers
intersect
within
recreation.
You
know
from
a
non-profit
standpoint,
there
are
a
lot
of
providers
that
are
in
the
area
that
do
after
school
care.
B
They
might
not
think
of
themselves
as
green
recreators,
but
they're
entering
into
green
spaces
and
really
trying
to
reap
the
benefits
of
that.
We
want
to
make
sure
that's
successful
as
well,
so
conversation-wise
was
really
authentic
of
just
how
do
you
feel
what
what
did
you
experience
when
you
came
into
the
industry?
And
what
do
you
want
to
see
changed
and,
as
you
could
imagine
kind
of
receiving
that
feedback?
B
B
You
know
people
kind
of
at
that
point
come
running
to
conversate
and
really
engage
in
this
process.
So
I
think
it's
authentic,
it's
very
communal
sense
and
it's
also
very
individualistic
as
well,
because
I
want
to
make
sure
that
everyone's
account.
Their
experience
is
represented
appropriately
because,
through
that,
that's
the
engagement
process
to
make
change.
A
Thank
you,
one
final
question.
I
know
we
have
some
members,
you
know
we
want
to
turn
to
them
into
the
conversation,
but
one
of
the
first
conversations
that
we
had
around
this
work
and
with
the
city
since
then
has
been
around
a
way
for
community
members
to
talk
about
their
experiences
that
they
run
into
an
incident,
and
I
wondered
if
you
could
just
talk
about,
because
I
hear
what
you're
saying
about
this
this
organic.
A
B
Report,
which
is
what
we're
working
on
at
the
moment,
so
I
think
it's
very
intentional
for
us
to
understand
the
prevalence
of
exclusion
in
green
spaces.
We
don't
have
a
baseline.
We
can't
make
change
because
we're
just
pulling
strings
from
the
air
when
you
have
something
that
you
can
build
upon,
based
off
of
fact,
information
and
stuff
that
I
can
readily
show
you,
I
think
that's
when
change
can
happen
so
to
go
into
more
detail.
B
The
inclusionary
incident
report
is
focused
around
accounting
for
de-identified
information
based
off
of
level
of
exclusion,
so
say:
there's
a
racial
incident
on
a
trail
similar
to
christian
cooper
in
in
new
york,
and
he
was
birding,
and
you
know
there
was
an
incident
based
off
of
racial
profiling
and
multiple
other
scenarios
there.
We
want
to
be
able
to
account
for
that
and
be
able
to
make
sure
that
we're
tracking
the
prevalence
of
this
and
hopefully
make
infrastructure
change
and
policy
change
to
negate
those
situations
coming.
B
A
A
Thank
you,
yeah,
and
it's
been
an
incredible
journey
to
watch
unfold.
I
encourage
folks
to
reach
out
to
learn
more
and
consider
you
know
getting
involved
or
sharing
with
folks
that
may
want
to
get
involved.
It's
exciting
work,
maria
I'd
like
to
turn
to
you.
Thank
you
so
much
for
taking
the
time
to
be
here
with
us.
If
you
wouldn't
mind,
could
you
talk
a
little
bit
about
ascend
and
how
that
place
came
to
be
and
what
your
role
is
within
it.
C
C
I
think
more
and
more,
it's
become
important
to
the
entire
leadership
team
here,
to
develop
a
community
oriented
sort
of
angle,
to
the
programming
that
we
have
to
the
space
that
we
operate
and
ensuring
that
this
is
a
community
center
for
people
who
are
interested
in
just
being
physically
active
in
general
or
getting
involved
in
the
spaces
that
they're
in
my
role
at
ascend
was
not
originally,
as
I'm
sure
many
people
here
can
relate
to
specifically
around
equity.
I
actually
am
a
rock
setter
at
the
gym
and
have
been
a
youth
coach
as
well.
C
Then,
last
summer,
as
you
know,
more
conversations
were
happening
around
black
lives
matter
and
george
floyd
and
within
the
community
out
of
send,
it
became
increasingly
important
that
this
was
something
we
felt
we
had
even
with
just
a
little
bit
of
space.
We
had
wanted
to
do
as
much
as
we
could
to
address
it
so
being
part
of
the
leadership
team
already
and
leading
this
climbers
of
color
group.
C
So
the
the
department
goals
that
I've
sort
of
laid
out
or
what
I
would
like
to
see
ascend
working
more
on
and
what
the
department's
going
to
focus
on
is
one
creating
a
safe
and
welcoming
space
for
bipot
communities
in
ascend,
in
the
city
and
in
outdoor
spaces
in
general,
and
this,
of
course
evolves
into
just
working
more
with
marginalized
communities
at
large.
But
right
now
you
know
the
conversation
is
focused
on
bypass
communities,
black
communities
in
particular.
A
Thank
you
so
much,
I'm
curious
what
you
would
share
about.
You
know
how
how
these
affinity
sessions
been
been
received,
and
what's
the
experience
been
like,
I,
I
had
the
privilege
of
being
a
part
of
an
early
on
conversation
where
you
all
were
just
considering
you
know
the
one
of
these
first
groups
right,
it
doesn't
make
sense
to
create
a
space.
Will
it
be
inclusionary?
Will
it
feel
exclusionary
and
you
know
trying
to
seek
this
balance
of
holding
space
for
people
honoring
their
identities,
but
also
being
inclusive
right.
A
C
Yeah,
thank
you
for
that
question.
I've
been
thinking
about
this
a
lot
recently
I'll
explain
in
a
moment
a
little
bit
about
how
the
affinity
sessions
in
particular
started.
But
first
I
just
want
to
say
that
my
approach
to
learning
about
this
kind
of
work
because
of
course,
like
learning
about
equity,
and
these
conversations
takes
a
lot
of
you-
know
education
and
background
and
is
hard
for
people.
So
it's
not
always
a
very
immediate.
C
You
know
obviously
like
excited
reception
for
some
people
for
these
conversations,
but
I
think
learning
occurs
best
when
there
is
a
combination
of
discomfort
and
then
comfort,
so
learning
something
new,
obviously
forces
you
out
of
your
comfort
zone
and
makes
challenges
current
beliefs.
You
may
have
exposes
you
to
something
new
and
it
can
be
hard
to
sit
with
that
when
it
just
stops
there.
C
So,
for
me,
the
important
part
is
ensuring
that
people
have
that
access
to
those
sometimes
difficult
conversations,
and
then
it
comes
together
again
in
another
space,
where
you
can
help
people
internalize
that
information
sit
with
it
more
comfortably
figure
out
how
they
can
relate
to
it,
and
I
think
that
combination
is
is
where
those
conversations
occur
best.
So
our
approach
to
the
affinity
sessions
has,
let
me
say
that
again,
our
approach
to
infinity
sessions
has
been
to
ensure
that
they
exist
within
a
wider
network
of
other
programming
that
we
have
so
affinity
sessions.
C
Just
to
explain
that
here
and
now
early
is
ascend
because
of
kovid
switch
to
a
reservation-based
system
so
to
come
climb
you
put
in
a
reservation
just
so.
We
have
like
meet
the
capacity
we
have.
That
enabled
us
actually
quite
well
to
start
these
affinity
sessions
so
twice
a
month,
the
first
saturday
of
the
month
of
each
month,
6
to
8
p.m.
We
have
a
bypass
affinity
session,
so
it's
intended
just
for
that
community
and
then
the
third
saturday
of
every
month.
C
We
have
another
climbing
session
dedicated
to
our
queer
femme
trans
women
community.
So
just
them,
I
personally
think
they've
been
great.
I've
had
a
lot
of
fun
going
what's
important,
I
think
about
the
affinity
sessions
is
that
they
exist
in
this
larger
picture
of
access.
So,
of
course,
the
barriers
to
all
of
these
different
activities,
not
just
climbing,
but
recreation
in
general,
isn't
just
financial
barriers
right.
A
lot
of
it
is
cultural.
C
What
people
may
have
been
exposed
to
when
they
were
younger.
A
lot
of
it
is
sometimes
stigmas
or
the
way
when
people
certain
communities
go
outside.
If
they
have
a
certain
reception,
that's
unwelcoming.
You
know
that
doesn't
really
encourage
further
engagement
and-
and
that's
been
seen
like
there's,
there's
long
histories
of
of
the
way
different
communities
have
been
treated
in
national
parks.
C
There's
long
histories
of
the
way
like
black
communities
have
been
treated
even
in
something
as
simple
as
pools
and
like
how,
like
you
know,
black
people
and
white
people
weren't,
you
know
supposed
to
go
to
the
same
pool
so
anyways
all
to
say.
There's
this
long,
history
of
discrimination
outdoor
spaces.
C
So
our
approach
to
improving
access,
because
the
goal
here
was
to
improve
safe
and
equitable
access
to
climbing
and
outdoor
spaces,
was
to
piece
out
the
way
people
use
the
gym.
So
initially,
I
think
we
had
thought
to
create
good
access
was
maybe
to
have
a
sliding
scale,
a
financial
option,
so
people
could
afford
a
membership.
But
of
course,
wanting
a
membership
in
the
first
place
means
you've
already
had
access
to
climbing
already.
C
To
pay
money
to
be
here
and
that's
not
where
everybody
is
so:
instead
we
decided
to
think
about
how
people
want
to
come
so
for
first
time
climbers
or
people
who
maybe
want
to
start
climbing,
but
aren't
really
sure
we
have
this
program
now,
where
we
have
five
complimentary
day
passes
every
day,
so
you
can
just
go
online
log
on
and
claim
one
of
those
day
passes,
like
no
questions
asked
that
way.
You
know
you
get
to
try
climbing
without
much
of
that
financial
burden
and
see
what
it's
like.
C
Where
is
where
we
wanted
to
go
with
it?
Now
you
were
asking
about
how
the
reception
has
been,
and
it's
been
mostly
really
really
great.
Of
course,
I
think
there's
some
tension
and,
like
I
said
earlier,
discomfort
of
what
it
means
to
feel
like
that's
like
a
session
is
being
taken
away
from
you
like
if
it's
intended
for
these
people
and
it's
not
for
others,
and
I
could
go
for
a
long
time
into
that
whole
conversation.
I
won't,
but.
C
The
space
is
intended
for
these
communities
and,
at
the
same
time,
to
create
that
sense
of
comfort
where
people
can
come
together
and
again
engage
in
conversation.
We
have
our
community
advisory
board
and
they
have
monthly
sessions
at
the
end
of
every
month.
Where
we
have.
You
know
much
broader,
bigger
conversations
about
issues
in
the
community,
ranging
from
you
know,
black
history,
month
to
gender
equity,
to
environmental
justice,
to
a
wide
variety
of
things,
and
we
have
the
clubs
where
anybody
is
welcome
to
come
support
those
communities.
C
A
Incredible,
thank
you
so
much
for
sharing
maria,
and
maybe
we
can
talk
a
little
bit
more
about
the
reception
towards
the
end
of
the
of
the
conversation,
because
I'm
curious
how
you
would
counsel
folks
to
go
about
these
conversations
on
their
own,
because
I
think
for
a
lot
of
organizations
that
I've
had
the
chance
to
talk
to
you
know.
Sometimes
it
can
feel
intimidating
because
they
just
don't
know
where
to
begin,
and
they
don't
want
to
offend
anyone
with
their
initial
forays
into
the
conversation,
and
so
I
think
sometimes
that
produces
hesitancy.
A
D
Yeah
for
sure,
thanks
josiah-
and
I
just
really
enjoyed
listening
to
marcus
and
maria
talk
about
their
things.
I
could
just
sit
in
that
for
a
while,
but
the
sca
has
is
actually
a
national
organization.
The
pittsburgh
office
has
been
here
doing
work
in
pittsburgh
since
2001,
so
like
venture
outdoors
we're
about
years
old
here
in
pittsburgh,
but
the
sca
itself
has
been
around
since
1957
and
at
that
time
a
young
woman
named
liz
putnam.
D
D
At
a
time
when
you
know
not,
even
women
were
really
welcome
into
doing
this
kind
of
trail.
Work
in
conservation
work
at
the
time
he's
really
a
man's
man's
world
at
that
time.
So
she
started.
She
started
the
the
sca
and
it
grew
nationally
and
then
in
the
70s,
these
community
programs,
such
as
the
one
I
work
for,
started
up.
D
So
we
offered
programming
for
city
youth,
doing
work
in
the
cities
to
make
sure
that
the
the
green
spaces
in
the
cities
were
rich
and
accessible
and
vibrant,
and
so
we
partner
with
with
landowners
and
land
managers,
to
make
sure
that
we
can
be
the
workforce
of
of
young
people
and
older
people
to
make
sure
that
these
spaces
stay
stay,
preserved
and
conserved.
So
our
mission
is
to
build
the
next
generation
of
conservation
leaders
and
to
inspire
lifelong
stewardship
of
the
environment
and
communities.
D
D
We
really
focus
on
the
human
side
of
things,
so
the
the
youth
that
we
employ
making
sure
that
they
feel
ownership
of
the
projects
they
do
making
sure
that
they
grow
in
their
confidence
and
making
sure
that
they
feel
like
they
are
giving
back
to
the
community
and
also
getting
something
from
the
work
they're
doing
and
have
a
pride
in
that
for
our
program.
For
the
the
summer
program,
we've
worked
with
partner
for
work
learning
for
many
many
years
to
do
a
summer
program.
D
So
we
have
six
weeks
where
we
employ
up
to
70
youth
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
so
they're
either
city,
kids
or
they're
from
allegheny
county,
and
they
come
on
our
cruise
and
they
they
just
they
do
the
work
in
our
parks
with
us
and
we
we
are
able
to
pay
them
for
it
and
so
yeah.
It's
it's
a
good
program
to
get
people
to
know
their
parks.
D
One
we
try
to
employ
youth
very
close
in
in
the
park
still
very
close
to
where
they
live,
so
that,
if
they
didn't
know
the
parks
before
or
the
green
spaces
before
now,
they
know
them
now.
They're
working
in
them
and
they're
contributing
to
them
and
ideally
they're
able
to
show
other
people
in
their
community
other
people
and
their
families,
those
those
spaces
that
are
available
to
them
as
well
right
in
their
own
neighborhoods.
So
that's
that's
kind
of
the
community
program.
In
a
nutshell,
nasties
lots
of
other
programs.
D
We
have
the
pa
outdoor
corps,
which
a
lot
of
the
work
that
you
see
in
our
parks
and
pa,
like
the
allegheny
national
forest
sca,
does
a
ton
of
work
there
and
we're
hiring
young
people
to
to
do
crews
in
those
areas.
We
also
have
a
really
cool
internship
program
as
well
that
places
young
people
usually
college
age
into
some
of
our
partner
spaces
like
phipps
fips,
and
I
think
we've
had
some
placed
at
the
western
pa,
conservancy
and
other
places
like
that.
A
D
Yeah
for
sure,
so
one
that
we're
really
excited
about
this
morning.
I
just
got
back
from
a
tree
planting
with
tree
pittsburgh
this
morning,
at
one
of
our
sites
at
the
wilkins
primary
school,
and
that
site
is
in
wilkinsburg
churchill
area.
But
what
we're
doing
there
is
we're
creating
a
nature
trail.
Two
years
ago,
the
high
school
students
from
woodland
hills
put
the
trail
in
for
the
elementary
school
students,
so
we're
going
back.
D
We're
refreshing
the
trail,
we're
putting
in
a
pollinator
garden
we're
getting
a
lot
of
great
folks
together
to
donate,
to
put
in
a
pollinator
garden
tree
pittsburgh
just
put
in
the
trees
today
with
us,
and
so
the
kids
will
learn
about
pollinator
gardens.
They'll
put
in
the
pollinator
garden.
We
are
helping
to
plan
and
design
a
outdoor
classroom
on
the
trail
so
that
those
elementary
school
kids
can
come
down
and
enjoy
the
space.
Learn
about
science,
learn
about
nature
and
we're
going
to
put
off
a
spur-off
chair
trail
there
as
well.
D
So
it
should
be
really
fun
because
it's
the
high
school
kids,
who
are
doing
it
and
they're
doing
it
in
service
of
the
education
of
the
elementary
school
kids.
One
other
example
a
new
one
that
I'm
excited
about
is
in
garfield
we're
working
on
what
the
bloomfield
garfield
corporation
is
calling
the
green
zone
they're,
trying
to
essentially
get
a
greenway
put
in
taking
over
and
adopting
vacant
lots
to
make
green
space
available
to
people
who
don't
have
a
lot
of
green
space
in
bloomfield
and
garfield.
D
So
sca
is
going
to
spend
six
weeks
again
in
our
in
our
program,
helping
to
clear
out
invasive
species,
we're
going
to
learn
all
about
that.
We're
going
to
blaze
some
trail
in
there
we're
going
to
plant
native
species
native
trees
and
put
signage
in
so
that
the
community
can
use
that
space
that
was
otherwise
unusable.
A
That's
so
wonderful,
thank
you
for
sharing
I'm
curious
how
you
would
share
about
what
the
concept
of
equity
means
to
you
and
your
work
and
for
sca,
because
you
know
in
hearing
you
share
even
just
today.
You
know
you
have
this.
The
beginning
of
your
organization
sounds
like
you
know:
gender
equity
right,
a
woman
taking
it
upon
herself
to
create
the
kind
of
change
in
the
world
that
she
would
like
to
see
and
create
opportunity
in
space
for
others.
And
then
you
know
that's
like
the
the
national
routes.
A
You
have
a
local
focus.
You
work
through
the
learner
program,
which
is
a
city
and
county
wide
effort.
We've
talked
about
a
lot
on
these
broadcasts
that
we
definitely
encourage
folks
to
look
up
and
it
has
an
outsized
impact
on
african-american
young
people
in
the
city
and
the
county
in
particular,
a
high
percentage
of
the
young
people
engaged
every
single
year
are
bipolar
and
african-american,
and
so
what
is?
What
does
the
term
of
equity
mean
to
you
in
the
context
of
the
work
here.
D
C
D
And
so
our
job
in
the
sca
I
say
is:
we
are
a
mentorship
and
leadership
program
first
in
this
community
program
in
pittsburgh,
and
we
are
a
trail
program
equally,
but
kind
of
second
conservation
is
is
there
but
and
the
the
point
is
to
make
sure
that
these
these
youth,
that
we
have
these
youth
members
have
a
great
experience
with
us
and
are
building
confidence
so
that
they
say
I
loved
my
experience.
I
love
the
people.
D
I
work
with,
I
love
being
in
nature,
and
I
want
to
keep
working
for
the
environment
and
I
think
that,
what's
really
special
about
being
able
to
work
with
learning
as
as
sca
is
that
you
know
there
is
equity
there.
It's
it's
a
lot
of
kids
who
otherwise
maybe
would
have
never
heard
about
the
student
conservation
association
and
so
be
that's
a
huge
responsibility
for
us
to
say.
Okay,
they
may
not
have
heard
of
us,
but
now
they're
with
us.
D
If
they
did
have
that
love
before,
let's
make
sure
they
have
a
job
in
this,
if
they
can
get
a
job
in
this,
let's
make
sure
they
have
skills
so
that
they
can
go
on
to
have
a
career
and,
let's
make
sure
we
connect
them
to
fips
in
western
pa,
conservancy
and
ppc,
and
all
these
places
make
sure
they
have
the
connections
into
marcus
right
who's.
Doing
this
amazing
coalition.
D
A
D
A
B
Yeah
sure
thing
so
we
have
through
the
outdoor
inclusion
coalition
a
mentorship
program.
So
it's
a
good
segue
hopping
on
with
joanna
and
kind
of
explaining.
What's
going
on
with
the
oic
something
we
are
very
intentional
on
and
we
have
like
a
high
interest
is
making
sure
similar
to
what
joanna
said.
The
relationship
building
is
most
important,
but
also
career
exploration
is
important
as
well.
B
I
want
to
make
sure
that
individuals,
especially
people
of
color
and
marginalized
communities,
have
the
opportunity
to
explore
what
an
outdoor
industry
job
looks
like
I
always
kind
of
go
back
to
my
own
personal
experiences.
I
got
lucky.
I
stumbled
into
this
position
because
I
went
to
post-secondary
school
one
that
was
in
western
north
carolina
and
it
was
an
outdoor
centric
school
that
had
a
base
camp
and
I
had
an
opportunity
to
see
what
a
career
within
outdoor
industry
looks.
Like
not
everyone
has
that
experience.
Not
everyone
has
equal
opportunity
for
post-secondary
schooling.
B
Not
everyone
has
the
opportunity
to
go
to
a
school
that
has
a
base
camp.
Not
everyone
has
the
same
stuff
as
me.
So
what
I
want
to
do
is
make
sure
that
if
you
have
an
interest,
if
you
just
want
to
see
what
you
know,
gardening
looks
like
as
a
career.
What
managing
a
kayak
facility
looks
like
as
a
career.
You
know
working
along
joanna
in
sca
to
see
what
stewardship
and
conservation
looks
like
or
working
with
maria
to
see
what
managing
an
indoor
climbing
gym
looks
like
you.
B
Have
that
opportunity
you're
going
to
be
paid
equitably
to
do
that
and
you're
also
going
to
be
able
to
do
what
you
want
within
these
spaces
in
the
act
in
an
actual
like
representative
time
frame,
you
know
we
we
hold
youth
to
such
a
high
standard
of
hey.
If
you
want
to
do
something,
you
got
to
commit
100.
B
B
So
we're
we're
limiting
the
opportunity
of
24
hours
a
week
and
making
sure
that
access
both
to
and
from
work
or
any
barrier
that
is
popping
up
within
the
circumstance
whether
that
be
you
know,
access
ways
you
don't
have
public
transit,
you
don't
have
a
car
whatever
that
might
be
we're
gonna
make
sure
that
we're
covering
those
fares
appropriately.
So
this
year
we
have
two
opportunities
and
there's
only
two
this
year,
but
next
year
for
2022,
we
do
plan
on.
B
You
know
going
tenfold
and
going
up
to
20
to
even
30
opportunities,
so
keep
a
lookout
for
that.
We
have
an
application
coming
out
late
april
early
may
and
the
application
process
is
pretty
straightforward.
Do
you
have
interest,
give
us
some
general
information
about
how
we
can
contact
you
and-
and
let's
make
this
work
type
of
ordeal,
so
really
excited
about
that.
B
I
think
all
the
partners
are
really
excited
about
that
to
see
how
it
happens
the
first
year
and
what
the
interest
is
for
growing
the
partnership
network
for,
like,
I
said,
individuals
and
companies
that
are
in
the
industry
that
will
be
very
well
suited
to
make
sure
that
this
experience
is
worthwhile.
So.
A
B
Yeah
check
out
the
the
venture
outdoors
website,
we'll
also
be
sending
that
to
all
of
the
partners
that
we
have
in
the
outdoor
inclusion
coalition.
So
we're
trying
to
be
very
intentional
with
making
sure
that
you
know
if
internet
access
is
a
detriment
and
you
don't
have
access
to
it.
We're
making
sure
all
the
cdc's
have
this
that
they
can
distribute
that
through
newsletters
by
that
d
paper
or
electronically.
So
hopefully
it's
going
to
get
to
you
in
some
avenue.
B
A
B
So
it's
all
going
to
culminate
with
a
a
final
get
together
where
we
have
just
a
celebration
of
you
know:
venture
outdoors,
but
also
outdoor
recreation,
where
we're
envisioning
outdoor
recreation
in
terms
of
access
and
equality.
So
that's
one
thing:
we
also
have
summer
camps
coming
up
for
for
youth.
We
have
a
few
spots
still
available.
Those
are
filling
up
rather
quickly,
but
you're
going
to
be
learning
some
outdoor
skills,
also
having
some
fun
activities
in
terms
of
outdoor
recreation.
So
those
are
the
big
things
that
are
coming
up
for
us.
B
We
also
hold
our
triangles
event
as
well
over
the
summer.
So
on
the
north
shore,
you
can
come
on
down
and
fish
for
free
every
wednesday
over
the
summer.
It's
normally
a
huge
event.
Just
because
again
it's
a
good
lunch
break
opportunity
and
if
you've
ever
seen
a
youth
or
a
young
adult
catch
a
fish
for
the
first
time,
it's
a
lot
of
fun.
It's
definitely
camera
worthy.
So
that's
what
we
have
going
on!
You
can
check
those
out
again.
A
C
Yeah
so,
like
you
said,
the
affinity
sessions
are
twice
a
month
and
we
have
the
community
advisory
board
events
which
are
at
the
end
of
every
month.
We
also
have
some
summer
camps
going
on
so
definitely
plenty
of
space
to
still
sign
up
and
register.
That's
for
youth
to
come
climb
inside
and
there's
different
kinds
of
programming
that
we
have
in
here.
We
also
have
an
outdoor
guiding
program,
so
lots
of
different
trips
going
out
to
different
different
areas
around
southwest
pennsylvania.
C
So
all
of
these
are
I'm
pretty
sure
all
these
are
on
ropes,
but
we
go
out
to
mcconnell's
mill.
We
go
out
to
seneca,
we
go
out
to
different
places
to
to
just
get
outside,
and
another
thing
I'll
say
too,
is,
as
part
of
this
whole
initiative
access
initiatives
that
we
have
going
on.
We
also
have
an
equity
and
outreach
fund,
so
we've
had
different
donations
come
in
to
ascendant
general
and
we
wanted
to
house
it
in
this
fund
under
the
equity
outreach
department
and
so
that
money
goes
towards
community
advisory
board
events.
C
C
I
have
this
like
I'm
very
spreadsheet
oriented,
and
so
I
have
a
whole
set
of
things
going
on,
but
a
lot
of
the
initiatives
I
mentioned
just
now
fall
under
what
I
imagine
is
like
logistical
things,
basically
just
like:
how
do
we
get
people
into
the
gym?
How
do
we
get
them
climbing,
but
then
there's
also
other
things
we're
working
on
under
sort
of
a
transformative
lens.
C
So
how
do
we
get
people
becoming
route
setters
in
the
gym
or
how
could
we
develop
a
transportation
system
that,
at
some
point
would
either
maybe
be
able
to
get
people
from
communities
that
aren't
close
to
the
south
side
or
to
the
other
gyms
that
we
might
have
and
carry
that
around
and
then
inclusion
as
a
third
sort
of
set
of
activities
which
falls
under
our
community
advisory
board?
Getting
people
involved
in
there
to
be
on
this
panel
basically
aboard.
A
Very
fun,
thank
you.
So
much
all
right.
My
friends
we've
been
talking
for
almost
an
hour
here,
I'd
like
to
open
it
up
to
everybody,
just
to
kind
of
talk
about
any
final
encouragements.
You
have
for
folks
that
are
thinking
about
their
own
sense
of
wellness.
You
know
we're
kind
of
maybe
light
at
the
end
of
the
tunnel
vibes
with
covid.
I
know
there's
a
lot
of
people
very
excited
to
kind
of
get
out
and
about
again
to
get
involved
to
re-explore
a
sense
of
community
to
just
be
outside.
B
So
I
kind
of
closed
out
and
saying
that,
like
we're
all
in
this
space-
and
we
all
really
recognize
the
importance
of
what
we're
doing
in
the
work
that
has
yet
to
come-
and
it's
going
to
come
for
us
but
don't
be
afraid
to
close
the
laptop
for
a
second,
don't
be
afraid
to
take
that
walk
outside.
You
know
go
by
for
a
little
bit
put
on
your
headphones
and
play
music,
because
there's
always
going
to
be
that
time
when
you
need
to
open
the
laptop
back
up
and
do
some
work.
B
A
Thank
you
so
much
anyone
else
and
marie
I'm
also
wondering
back
to
the
point
we
talked
about.
You
know
earlier
not
to
throw
another
question
at
you,
but
if
an
organization
is
listening
and
they're
thinking
about
you
know
how
do
we
go
about
starting
these
conversations
internally
ourselves?
How
would
you
encourage
them?
I'm
curious
about.
C
C
C
C
Is
this
outside
of
your
lane,
and
I
think
my
answer
to
that
is
discrimination
and
the
issues
that
we're
talking
about
with
inequity
aren't
a
far
away
thing
and
justice
isn't
just
a
political
thing.
It's
a
thing
that
touches
all
of
our
lives
and
is
present
in
all
of
the
different
aspects
that
that
we
do
in
our
daily
routines.
And
so
that's
why.
I
think
it's
not
more
important,
but
often
I
think,
underlooked,
to
see
how
those
issues
play
out
in
in
things
like
outdoor
spaces
or
climbing
gyms.
C
So
for
me,
it's
important
for
us
to
do
as
much
as
we
can
for
our
community,
because
the
work
that
is
required
to
do
anything
around
equity
and
justice.
You
have
to
start
with
your
community.
You
have
to
start
with
where
you
know
and
who
you
know
and
what
you
know
and
and
build
out
from
there.
So
that's
my
approach
to
this
work
has
just
been:
how
can
we
make
decisions
that
are
community
oriented?
C
What
can
we
do
to
listen
to
to
the
people
who
might
not
always
have
the
microphone
or
be
in
a
position
or
a
conversation
like
this
and
recognizing
very
much?
So
I
guess
that
there's
no
perfect
way
to
start
this
kind
of
work
at
all
and
mistakes
will
be
made,
and
I
think
the
important
thing
is
to
own
up
to
those
mistakes.
C
D
I
would
I
would
just
kind
of
second
what
maria
is
saying
is
whatever
little
piece
you
can
do
in
your
own
little
corner
of
the
world.
Your
own
little
corner
of
pittsburgh
is
important,
and-
and
you
do
matter-
and
I
think
just
like
for
for
sda-
I've
been
really
lucky
to
be
a
part
of
this
organization
and
stephanie
meeks.
A
Thank
you
so
much
what
a
wonderful
note
to
end
the
conversation
on.
I
would
encourage
folks
that
are
watching
to
make
sure
you
check
out
venture
outdoors,
sca
and
ascend
online
and
on
social
media
feel
free
to
reach
out
to
our
panelists,
so
to
speak
directly
as
well
as
you
can
tell
they're
great
champions
for
this
work
and
their
organizations
we're
lucky
to
have
them
around,
and
I
just
also
want
to
echo
the
encouragement
on
on
each
person's.
A
You
know
wellness
journey
and
in
terms
of
that,
in
terms
of
the
community
sense,
too,
there's
value
in
holding
space
for
the
perspectives
of
others
and
leaning
into
these
difficult
conversations
and
there's
also
value
in
sharing
authentically
just
the
journey
of
doing
that.
You
know
just
I've
referenced
to
send,
for
example,
maria
with
other
folks
that
are
interested
in
this,
because
bringing
up
to
them
that
there's
a
climbing
gym,
that's
trying
to
figure
this
out
seems
to
really
give
them
encouragement
that
they
can
figure
it
out
for
their.
A
You
know
community-based
organization,
that's
that's
focused
on
education,
for
example,
and
just
the
idea
that
there
wasn't
a
prescriptive
sense
on
how
this
would
go,
but
it
was
the
right
thing
to
do
so.
You
just
started
has
been,
I
think,
illuminating
for
a
lot
of
folks.
So
just
want
to
end
with
those
notes
of
encouragement
to
people.