Category: Hugs

Animals, Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, donate, Family, Healing, Health, Hugs, Nurses, Safety

Medical Tails

Written by Addison Middleton

Elizabeth Olley, a VSCG Practice Manager, and Becky Howell, a VSCG Senior Nurse and Trainer, speak about their experience working for the Veterinary Care and Specialty Group in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

As a worried owner walks through the doors holding her trembling and sick dog, the receptionist is already calling the emergency team. ICU veterinarians begin their specialized care, blood work is rushed to the lab, and a surgeon is looking at scans planning the next steps for the pet; all services being done under the same roof in seamless coordination. 

This process is something very familiar to the Veterinary Care and Specialty Group (VCSG) in Chattanooga. With services such as emergency care, internal medicine, radiation oncology, surgery, rehabilitation and more, the mission of VCSG is to be a one stop shop for all pet needs no matter the time or lengths required. The treatments and equipment VCSG offer have allowed it to become one of the most advanced offices in America and a leading hub in the South Eastern area seeing around 10,000 – 12,000 pets every year, almost double compared to other vet offices. 

“What we’ve always tried to do with VCSG is give the convenience to owners so that people don’t have to take all that time off of work or so owners aren’t making thousands of appointments at 10 different hospitals trying to get the best care for their patient,” Liz Olley says. 

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art, Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Entertainment, Environment, Family, Food, History, Hugs, Music, outdoors, Philanthropy, Sustainability, Trains, UTC, women

Rising Rock Media Podcast

By Megan Cooper

Megan Cooper hosts an episode of Rising Rock Media Podcast where listeners can get a glance at life in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She speaks with several very different people from interviews she hosted throughout the semester.

Meet The Storyteller

Megan Cooper is a senior communication student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, UTC, focusing on being an audio technician and editor. Megan has experience using Adobe programs to create audio content for broadcasting. Megan is a show host, promotions director, and station manager at UTC’s student-run radio station, the Perch. She is also currently working as a promotions tech at Summit Media Group in Knoxville, TN. This is Megan’s second semester in Rising Rock as an audio technician where she uses nothing but tone of voice to share people’s stories, and she built the Rising Rock radio showcase for 88.1 WUTC. When she isn’t working she is reading fantasy books and hunting down the next CD on her list. Cooper’s passion lies in music, books, radio, and using stories to bring people together. If you have a story you want to tell or want to contact Megan you can reach her at megancooper820@gmail.com. 

Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, donate, Family, Healing, Hugs, Love, Religion, Safety, Uncategorized

Revolution of Redirection

Written by Connor Spelta

StreetWorks is an organization based in Chattanooga, Tennessee that helps the sexually exploited women of the city who are unhoused. They offer a home for the women to go to two days a week to rest, wash their clothes, shower, and eat.

A pair of thickly cushioned blue couches sit in the living room of a small house in Chattanooga. To the women who are familiar with the building and the organization it hosts, the couches are so much more than a comfy piece of furniture. 

On the four cushions, they can rest with the knowledge that they are safe. They know, at least for the time being, that they are free of the dangers they face outside of the Streetworks property. 

No men are allowed here, and no one enters the house without crossing paths with leadership team member Karen Brown.

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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, 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, Daily Life, Family, Health, Hugs, Love, Sports

Anchored to Home

Written by Trevor Jolley

Adam and Jessica Moore lock arms as the Love on the Diamond wedding ceremony takes place. The Moores renewed their vows at the Chattanooga Lookouts’ home plate as one of the couples selected by Sunny 92.3 to participate in the ceremony. Saturday, February 17, 2024. (Photo by Bethany Cothran)

Drawn onto the arms of Jessica and Adam Moore is a dark anchor tattoo, keeping them together no matter what. The tattoo is a result of the couple’s appreciation of tattoos, meaning much more than what is on the skin. It is not only a symbol of love, but of commitment and dedication to their relationship and their family; a reminder of what is truly important when hard times may come. They are each other’s home plate and with each other, they are safe. 

“We are each other’s anchor, you know? It means multiple things,” Adam Moore said. “We keep each other tied down, we keep each other stable.”

Adam and Jessica met on an online dating service in 2009. Adam messaged Jessica after coming across her profile and the two made plans for a first date.

“I went to his house and we just watched a movie,” Jessica Moore said. “I didn’t get off work until two hours after I was supposed to, and I felt really bad because he had to be up for work in [like] six hours.”

After a late albeit successful movie night, the pair knew they wanted to see each other again. Being around Halloween, the pair decided to get in the holiday spirit, so they made a visit to see Jessica’s father at Ruby Falls’ Haunted Cavern, an annual Chattanooga Halloween favorite that converts the beautiful Ruby Falls cave into a spooky haunted tour. 

“After that, I remember he took the drive to me. Then I took him with me and brought him to go meet my dad. We met on the side of the mountain, and it was good,” Jessica Moore said. “You know, it’s your dad. You always want to make a good first impression.” 

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Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, donate, Family, Food, Healing, Health, Hugs, Love, Sustainability, UTC, women

Let’s Go Shopping

Written by Caroline Colvin

Niki Bishop is the program director at Metropolitan Ministries. Bishop manages the grocery store program, which provides food to anyone in need.

Niki Bishop is the Program Director at Metropolitan Ministries’ Impact Hub on Rossville Boulevard. The Impact Hub is a conglomerate for many different community resources all under one roof, giving help to those in need. 

Bishop manages the grocery store program at MetMin. Funded through a grant from the Lyndhurst Foundation, the store provides a wide variety of fresh food and essentials once a month to anyone who needs it, no questions asked. 

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art, Chattanooga, community, Entertainment, Hugs, LGBTQ+, Love

Drag Diaries

By Maddie Van Horn

Filmed and edited by Maddie Van Horn.

Editor’s Note: The entertainers featured in this story are referenced by their Drag names instead of their real names for privacy reasons. 

Social media manager by day, Chattanooga’s favorite cocktail by night – Gin Von Tonic expresses her creativity through the art of drag and has gained a new community along the way.

“Performing is my favorite thing. I really love just being on stage. I love being the center of attention on my own terms,” Gin said. 

With 15 years of dance experience, Gin has always appreciated performance art, but it wasn’t until she started going to shows at the Palace Theater five years ago that she discovered her passion for drag.

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Chattanooga, community, Family, Healing, Hugs, Philanthropy, Sports

Addie’s Angels

By Kylee Boone

Chris Ray pushes his daughter Addie during a training session for Addie Ray Racing while volunteers follow. Wednesday, April 5, 2023. (Photo by Kylee Boone).

From the sweat dripping down a runner’s back to the endorphins rushing through their veins, racing is an activity many would describe as euphoric, including married couple Chris and Michelle Ray. Knowing how empowering a runner’s high feels, the Ray’s made it their mission to share the unique experience of racing with the disabled community by founding a nonprofit organization, Addie Ray Racing.

The inspiration behind this was Chris and Michelle’s 16-year-old daughter Addie who was born with Angelman Syndrome. After taking her along for her very first race and seeing the joy that it brought her, they knew this was something that needed to be shared with the people of Chattanooga.

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