Image Courtesy of Rachel Felder
I would have never imagined that I would find myself sitting on a panel in London, England, sharing the work that I was a part of in Detroit to help inner city youth go camping within their neighborhood.
But somehow, that is exactly what I was doing this past summer, as I joined so many other fellow environmentalists in celebrating the 175th anniversary of the YMCA. The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I was given to speak about the amazing work Detroit Outdoors is doing is not something that I even knew was possible when growing up. It was not until the summer after my senior year of high school that I realized that careers working outdoors even existed.
Following my discovery of this whole new world of job possibilities, I was fortunate enough to have my first environmental-related internship on Belle Isle State Park, which is located in the city of Detroit. Working on Belle Isle was an incredible learning experience that allowed me to witness so many environmentalists in action. It opened my eyes to future career paths working to protect and promote nature-based experiences, while allowing me to engage in these experiences myself. It was during this internship that I was first introduced to Detroit Outdoors. At the age of 18, I was going tent camping at a campground for the first time because of the work that Detroit Outdoors was doing and still does. I never imagined that the following summer I would become an intern for the same organization that allowed me to have my first tent-camping experience, but I am so grateful that I was.
Being able to be a part of the first season that Detroit Outdoors had was so gratifying to say the least. Having so many youth and adults come into a space within their city (the city of Detroit) and have had such a positive experience outdoors was and still is immensely exciting to bear witness to. Scout Hollow, which is in Rouge Park, is the only campground in the city of Detroit. It allows for the youth groups that come into our space to have a camping experience within their “own backyard,” as we like to say. The concept of creating a positive outdoor experience that is so close to home for many of these kids and young adults is something that holds so much weight. It can allow for some of them to be introduced to a whole new world of possibilities and career paths in the same way that I was. It can also encourage them to participate in more outdoor activities at home or in their free time; or it can simply motivate them to just go outside.
Being part of so many first-time camping experiences with youth and adults is very humbling, but for me that is not even the best part. The best part has by far been seeing people genuinely be reintroduced to what it means to be in nature and have nature-based experiences. It is being able to rewrite a narrative of who’s allowed to have access to nature and to give validation to all nature-based experiences, whether it is having a family picnic or going on a backpacking trip.
Detroit Outdoors was so much more than a summer internship for me. It has taken me so many places, from college campuses to London, England, for YMCA 175 to talk about the work that we are doing here in Detroit. It has given me a voice to be able to say that nature should be accessible to anyone and everyone who would like to use it. That it is not for a specific group of people to take ownership of, but merely exists, and everyone has a right to it as long as they are being respectful of it. It has been an absolute pleasure to represent the amazing organization of Detroit Outdoors and speak about the important work that they are doing to bridge the gap of accessibility pertaining to camping in Detroit. I am so privileged to be able to participate in giving youth the same opportunities that Detroit Outdoors gave me at the age of 18. I am very fortunate that I have been able to still work with them so closely since my internship has ended, and I hope to continue to do so in the future. It will never get old hearing someone say that their camping experience was so great that they would love to go again! That is the same way I felt after my first time, and now I can’t seem to stop.