MILWAUKEE — This Black History Month and year-round, two Milwaukee community leaders are working to connect Black and Brown communities to the mental and spiritual health benefits of nature.
What You Need To Know
For years, Tim Scott served as the executive director of Nearby Nature Milwaukee. Nearly a year ago, that organization shut down and laid off its entire staff, including Scott
But he was determined to continue the work. That’s why he developed his own group, the Urban Nature Connection, where he organizes community walks and other efforts to get more people outoors
Victory Garden Initiative, a nonprofit that works to end food insecurity and urban food deserts, has partnered with his organization by building garden beds for people and teaching them how to grow fruits and vegetables
As part of their annual Garden Blitz, volunteers deliver, assemble and install hundreds of garden beds throughout Milwaukee over two weeks every spring. They also provide soil and seeds.
“There is a nature gap between other races and Black and brown people, so Urban Nature Connection wants to make sure that Black and brown people understand that these nature spaces are for us and have health benefits,” said Tim Scott, who recently founded The Urban Nature Connection.
For years, Scott served as the executive director of Nearby Nature Milwaukee. Nearly a year ago, that organization shut down and laid off its entire staff, including Scott.
But he was determined to continue the work. That’s why he developed his own group, the Urban Nature Connection. He organizes community walks and other efforts to get more people outdoors.
“The drive, the mission and the passion to see people healed by nature was in me,” said Scott, who you can often find taking walks in Dineen Park.
(Urban Nature Connection)
Scott said he developed a strong connection to nature later in life. It helped him after watching his son get caught up in the criminal justice system.
“My son was not designed to go through that system, and so I found healing powers through nature by just coming outside and being in the park,” said Scott. “Or going by the river or even stepping outside into my own garden or cutting my grass. It brought me peace.”
He has partnered with Victory Garden Initiative, a nonprofit that works to end food insecurity and urban food deserts, by building garden beds for people and teaching them how to grow fruits and vegetables.
“We are located here in Harambee [neighborhood] because this is one of the areas that has the greatest need,” said Sandra Jones, the executive director of Victory Garden Initiative. “It has the highest level of food insecurity.”
(Victory Garden Initiative)
As part of their annual Garden Blitz, volunteers deliver, assemble, and install hundreds of garden beds throughout Milwaukee over two weeks every spring. They also provide soil and seeds.
Since the Garden Blitz first started in 2009, it’s led to the creation of about 3,500 garden beds in the city. This year it’s looking to build a record 400.
“We all have a stake in ending food insecurity, and now I think we have 35 organizations that we are working with, and the Urban Nature Connection signed on as a stakeholder,” said Jones.
(Victory Garden Initiative)
Scott said he sees it as a way to help heal his community. Everyone experiences trauma in different ways, but not everyone has equal access to mental health services. Scott said he believes connecting with nature can be a form of therapy, and he wants to share that with others.
“Our ancestors worked off the land and lived off the land, and we need to bring it back the best way that we can,” said Scott.