Written by Kayelyn McCaslin

A steady rhythm of metal and motion cuts through a quiet trail, the soft clicking of chains, the hum of wheels as hands push left, right, left along a path through Greenway Farms in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Somewhere between effort and ease, mechanics and mountainside, Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors’ Therapeutic Recreation department is bridging a gap. With the help of brand new GRIT adaptive junior wheelchairs, it’s not just about access to local trails, but a sense of belonging that all youth deserve.

Making Chattanooga’s scenic trails accessible to all is no single effort. It is the result of collaboration and dedication shared between GRIT Freedom’s All-Terrain wheelchair technology, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation’s quality-of-life grant, and the Chattanooga Therapeutic Recreation department’s intimate team. “Really zooming out and saying, all right, so we know it can be done, but it’s how is it gonna be done?” Therapeutic Recreation Department Head Elaine Gossett said. “Chattanooga is a great place to get outside, but it doesn’t necessarily make every trail accessible.”

At its core, the initiative addresses a simple, but substantial roadblock: traditional wheelchairs just aren’t built for outdoor trails. GRIT Freedom Chair CEO Derek Johnson explains, “Traditional wheelchairs get stuck on almost anything…rocks, cracks, sticks, stumps, mud, sand… They just aren’t suitable for off-road trails.” 

Meanwhile, GRIT Freedom All-Terrain junior chairs are engineered with mountain bike wheels, hand-lever mechanization, and chainlink drive tracks. These features let riders use their upper body muscles rather than relying mostly on the shoulders, making trail navigation accessible and empowering. Built by a team of MIT-trained mechanical engineers, the chairs are all about durability and affordability. But their impact depends on outdoor access in the first place. “Every chair purchased by a nonprofit or park allows hundreds of people to use our chairs that otherwise wouldn’t have access,” Johnson says.

It’s the people that work towards creating accessibility for all that push these GRIT chairs outside. For Gossett, who has worked with the city since 2007, that intention is foundational to the Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors Therapeutic Recreation department. “What we do is provide leisure and recreation opportunities for individuals with disabilities,” she says. “We want people to be able to think anything’s possible.”

Her department’s philosophy shapes everything from sports leagues to social programs to outdoor recreation, and their thoughtful design matters in making Chattanooga an outdoor city for all. “It’s important that if people show up, they feel welcome and that they’re not an afterthought,” Gossett said.

The adaptive equipment, two adult GRIT chairs and newly received junior models, was all made possible through a competitive grant from the Reeve Foundation. For Gossett and the Therapeutic Recreation department, the impact was immediate. “Adaptive equipment can be really expensive, and so it’s not always accessible to families,” she said. “For us to have that, it’s just a great resource for people.”

That resource is part of a larger national effort that Chattanooga is involved in. Dan McNeal, a representative from the Reeve foundation, explains that their commitment is not only to curing spinal cord injuries, but to improving quality of life for those with paralysis now. “We want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to experience the outdoors,” he said, “like those of us that are non-disabled.”

Through millions in grant funding, the foundation has supported adaptive recreation programs across the country. Providing equipment and opening new doors to nature and recreation, but also encouraging cities like Chattanooga to continue to advocate for outdoor access. 

Gossett sees that responsibility as ongoing and shared. “Just because we say we’re doing a great job doesn’t mean we don’t have a ways to go,” she says. “As we continue to be good advocates… it opens up doors for everybody.” It’s the small changes, like curb cuts for strollers and wheelchairs, that reflect a city that is designed for accessibility that benefits everyone. 

Looking down the path ahead to a more accessible Chattanooga, a push forward requires more than one hand at a time. Collaboration between the city, nonprofits, volunteers, and contributors, like GRIT and the Reeve Foundation, continue to bring more youth out into the “city in a park.” As Johnson puts it, “We measure success by the number of people we can help get back to experiencing the outdoors.” 

That success in Chattanooga can be heard in the steady sound of wheels on pavement and seen in shared glances down a trail. One look around at a group missing no smiling faces shows how adaptive outdoor recreation can enrich lives and create experiences that are both inclusive and life-changing for the future.

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No Limits on the River

Written by Mackenzie Sweat

As the sun sets, excitement and an overwhelming feeling of gratitude fill the air. Bikes surround the Hubert Fry Center pavilion, and participants, family, friends, and volunteers gather to hear Debbie Hightower introduce the season’s first adaptive cycling event. Just off Amnicola Highway in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is where people of all ages and abilities can enjoy activities like anyone else. 

For 35 years, Sports, Arts & Recreation of Chattanooga (SPARC) has been opening doors for people with disabilities across the Tennessee Valley. Founded in 1991, SPARC was built for one simple reason: to give people with all kinds of disabilities a chance to participate and compete in recreational sports together. 

Hightower describes adaptive sports as “a sport where someone, for whatever reason, disability, balance, cannot use regular sports equipment… They have an alternative way to participate. So it gives people with disabilities the opportunity to get to do outdoor activities that they would not otherwise get to do.”

Debbie found love for adaptive sports after attending the Peachtree Road Race and seeing that there was an adaptive cycling category. After receiving her physical therapy degree at Chattanooga State, and the day after graduation, Debbie Hightowerad and her husband, Jerry, founded SPARC.

We had a meeting together, and there were eight of us. Four had disabilities, and four didn’t. And that was the very beginning’’. Hightower shares… 

SPARC runs entirely on volunteers, gaining 300 across events each year, including people who travel from Florida and across Tennessee just to help. Each year, SPARC offers three different sports opportunities. In the winter, SPARC puts together a wheelchair basketball team that competes against other teams. In the summer, they ski on the lake, and in the spring, they organize adaptive cycling next to the river. 

Hightower says recruiting volunteers is simple: get someone to one event.”Once you come to something, you are hooked immediately,” she said. “It’s like a big family. We call it the Spark family. But it’s just such a joy to be around everybody.”

Cyndi Leach has called SPARC her family for over 10 years. Once a participant, now on the board of directors, she is so thankful for what SPARC has done for her. I love to help the organization that helped me’’ she expresses.

SPARC is a chapter of Move United, formerly Disabled Sports USA, a national organization founded in 1967 by U.S. military veterans under the motto: “If I can do this, I can do anything.” Move United’s mission is to provide national leadership and opportunities for individuals with disabilities to develop independence, confidence, and fitness through community sports and recreation. SPARC is the first and only Move United chapter in Tennessee.

As SPARC enters its 35th year, Hightower is clear about what’s at stake. “It cannot, we can’t quit,” she said. “…it’s just too important. We provide a service that is not really available to a lot of people with disabilities, and especially… we do it for free. People with disabilities have a lot of expenses, and a lot of them can’t afford the equipment that we own. Insurance won’t buy them this equipment. So it allows them to get out and do stuff that they would not otherwise get to do.”

From the first meeting in 1991 to today, Sparc has been creating opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in recreational sports. Debbie and her husband hope the enthusiasm and excitement about SPARC continues for the next 35 years to make that Spark live on.

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