When former professional skier Chris Rutgers founded Outdoor Outreach in 1999, he was simply paying forward what he credits for helping him reconcile his own childhood trauma: experiencing the outdoors with a community of peers. The San Diego-based nonprofit, which is funded through charitable donations and grants, has served more than 10,000 mostly poor and non-White youth for nearly 20 years.
Exploring the great outdoors is often associated with Whiteness and economic privilege. But Outdoor Outreach and other youth development programs are shifting the narrative. These organizations aim to make the outdoors—and by extension, the mental, physical, and social benefits of outside exploration—more accessible to populations traditionally disengaged from outdoor recreation.
To continue reading this story by Liz Brazile, go to: https://www.yesmagazine.org/pl...lks-anymore-20181115
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