Outdoor Chattanooga and Chattanooga’s Office of Multicultural Affairs are rolling out a new initiative aimed at diversifying participation in the city’s bustling outdoors scene.
The program, “Let’s Create a Movement,” will train 10 ambassadors from racially diverse backgrounds to serve as leaders and guides on Outdoor Chattanooga excursions in hopes that they can connect underrepresented communities to local outdoor opportunities.
Staff File Photo. Terri Chapin, program coordinator with Outdoor Chattanooga, leads CSAS students up a hill during National Bike to School Day last year. Chapin and Outdoor Chattanooga, along with the city’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, is launching a program designed to bring more diversity to the city’s outdoor scene.“If there are more people who look like you, perhaps you will be more likely to get out and try something outdoors,” said Terri Chapin, Outdoor Chattanooga recreation programs coordinator.
Incorporating more diversity into the outdoors is not a new effort locally or nationally, but project leaders are optimistic that “Let’s Create a Movement” will help diversify a predominantly white outdoor culture that has emerged as a key part of the city’s identity.
The program already has initiated discussion in the community about how to make the outdoors more accessible for all Chattanoogans.