Category: Chattanooga outreach

Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Environment, Health, History, outdoors, Philanthropy, Sustainability

Breathe Easy Now

Written by Guy DeWeese

Morgan Holl talks about Overlooked Materials, his glass recycling startup. He wants to make a difference in Chattanooga through recycling in the community.

The year is 1969, it has been 20 years since the All-Dixie Air Show, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was on the rise, Cedar Street Bridge just got finished. Businesses are being built, the city of Chattanooga is trending upward. It’s a crisp October day and Walter Cronkite, an anchorman for the CBS evening news known as the most trusted man in America, announces on national television that “Chattanooga, Tennessee is the dirtiest city in America.”

“It was so bad that people couldn’t stand it anymore, it was just gross,” says Karen  Hundt, an urban designer who has been involved in the city’s turnaround since those dark days in the 1960s when headlights were sometimes required at noon. 

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Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Food

Chattanooga Cuppa Joe

Written by Megan Cooper

The Hot Chocolatier in Saint Elmo serves a variety of sweet drinks and treats. This store opened in early 2023. November 21, 2024 (Photo by Megan Cooper)

The rich scent of chocolate clings to the walls and the couple inside the Hot Chocolatier store in the early fall morning. Workers begin baking and cleaning the cases filled with chocolate treats from sweet moist flaky cake to dense rich truffles.

Bradon Buckner and his wife Wendy Buckner spend almost every morning at their Market Street or St. Elmo store. Brandon never could have imagined where he and his wife would have ended up. 

The dream would become the Hot Chocolatier that Chattanooga has today started as a hobby. 

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Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Diversity, donate, Family, Sustainability

Truly Priceless

Written by Koleby Gilbert

Koleby Gilbert interviews Liz Hutcherson and Nena Beckham about the Chattanooga Free Store, their involvement in it, and the positive impact it has on the community.

On the corner of Dodson Ave. and Ocoee St. sits a quiet, unassuming building with little more than an open sign and organization logo on the storefront. Underneath reads a simple phrase: “Solidarity, not charity.” Take a closer look inside and you’ll be met with clothing racks, a variety of toys, shoes and hygiene products—all without a price tag.

The Chattanooga Free Store is a non-religious, completely volunteer-run organization that actively embraces mutual aid, serving a community of families and friends at least three times a week. Including items like toys, health products, sexual health items, and food from their community fridge, the Free Store is for everyone; no questions, judgment or payment.

Long-time manager and volunteer, Liz Hutcherson, has been a shining beacon of hope, collaboration and strength within the community fostered by the Free Store. 

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Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Diversity, Family, Hugs, Sports, teachers

Role Making Chainbreakers

Written by Lexi Foley

Corey Craddock dribbles at Carver Community Center. Thursday, November 21, 2024. (Photo by: Lexi Foley).

Echoes of squeaky shoes and the clap of a basketball compete with the shouts of Corey Craddock as he stops the game for the tenth time to “dispute a call”—in reality, the aging man just needed a break. His team laughed as they recorded an interview of how he’d been feeling about his game. 

Because these courts are in the middle of a high-crime area, men walk through the doors of Carver Community Center and have their bags and coats checked. A security guard wands down their personnel to make sure no weapons are hidden. Chattanooga’s violent crime rate is 282% higher than the national average. One in 16 residents in Chattanooga is at risk of becoming a victim of violent crime. But despite the precautious entrance to the courts, Craddock found hope hooping with his brothers.

These are the 423 chain breakers. 

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Animals, Anxiety, art, Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Diversity, Entertainment, Environment, Family, Folklore, Healing, Health, History, Hugs, Love, Music, outdoors, Sports, teachers, Trains

Rising Rock Radio Showcase
Graphic by Kylee Boone

Rising Rock is excited to showcase some of our best audio stories in a continued partnership with Scenic Roots.

Nature vs Nurture

Taryn Brooks sits with Taylor Reed, a member and volunteer of Forest Families of Chattanooga. Reed, along with her daughter, has grown alongside the organization and seen the benefits of nature firsthand.
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Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Family, Health, History, Sports, teachers, women

Friends Fight

Written by Silas Panktraz

Katelin Hickman and Heather Elmore fight during the Guns ‘n Hoses charity boxing event. Friday, November 1, 2024 (Photo by Silas Pankratz).

A high-pitched beep cuts through the air, just as it does every three minutes during training sessions at the YMCA Y-CAP boxing gym in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This beep is soon followed by a clash of gloved fists and padded heads, as two opposing forces wish to refine their fighting skills in the ring. 

For the past twenty-five years, this same beep has been heard by countless fighters, young and old, several of which would go on to become national and even international champions in their sport. Today, however, the gym hosts the final night of training before the 15th annual Guns and Hoses charity boxing night. 

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Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Diversity, Family, Folklore, History

River Culture

Written by Ava Nessell

Grand glass cases welcome museum-goers to the Museum and Cultural Center at 5ive Points. Tuesday, November 12, 2024. (Photo by Ava Nessell)

Rays of sunlight beam through onto the glass display cases illuminating the relics of history that lay just behind the glass. Laughter echoes down the hallway as members of the Rotary Club of Cleveland catch up before a meeting. It’s just a day at the office for Lucy K. Rhymer, executive director at the Museum and Cultural Center at 5ive Points. 

5ive Points is committed to fostering an environment of diversity and inclusion. As a great cultural center, its goal is to engage young people in art and history. The museum aims to have something for every member of the community regardless of age, gender, or race.

“I would say we try to appeal to all ages of people and in all socioeconomic levels,” Rhymer said. “We don’t want to be just a place for upper class, highly educated people to come and be bougie together.” 

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Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Environment, Family, Hugs, Love, outdoors, teachers

Nature vs Nurture

Written by Taryn Brooks

Children of Forest Families play together at Greenway Farms. Friday, November 8th, 2024. (Photo by Taryn Brooks).

Cheerful giggles and child-sized stomps harmonize with singing birds to fill the air of an otherwise quiet afternoon. In a world where trees are towers to be climbed, sticks are swords, and friendship can be made with no words at all, nature brings a new type of imagination to a young mind. Darana Campbell, executive director of Forest Families of Chattanooga, founded the organization as a branch between families and their connection to the outdoors. 

Four years ago, in the midst of Covid confinement and a heartbreaking divorce, Campbell found herself overwhelmed with stress. To clear her mind and give her son a new way to channel his energy, the two began to adventure out together on frequent walks. 

“I had so much stress that I just felt so much better when we went for a walk,” Campbell said.

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Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Diversity, Environment, Health, Safety

Dirty Dirt

Written by Connor Spelta

Employees with CMC remediate a lawn. Friday, November 22, 2024. (Photo by Connor Spelta).

An estimated 11,699,100 cubic feet of lead-contaminated soil has sat in the yards, gardens, playgrounds, parks, schools and churches of eight neighborhoods in Chattanooga’s southside for the better part of a century. This is the EPA superfund site in your backyard.  

Jasmin Jeffries, the remedial project manager for the site, explained that five years in, there is still plenty of work to be done. 

“It’s ongoing, Monday through Friday, sometimes Saturday,” Jeffries said.

There is a sense of urgency to the cleanup. Dawn Curley, the health program manager for Hamilton County’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, talks about the effects of elevated blood levels in children and the importance of early intervention. 

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Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Diversity, donate, Family, History, Philanthropy, Sustainability, Uncategorized, UTC, women

Home Sweet Home

Written by Connor Spelta

Trish King, the Construction Office Manager at Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga Area talks about her experience working with volunteers and homeowners in the local community.

A public park, a mountain view, colorful homes, and bustling construction sites: these are all things you wouldn’t typically expect to see in a community with subsidized housing, but thanks to the work of the city and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga, this is the scene at the Villages of Alton Park.

Construction Office Manager Trish King has seen firsthand the effect that they’ve had fostering a community in the neighborhood.

“We are not building one house for one person in isolation,” said King. “It’s that there are people around here who’ve been through the same process, it’s being part of something bigger.”

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