Tag: Family

Chattanooga, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, donate, Environment, Family, Food, Food Banks, Healing, Health, outdoors, Philanthropy, Sustainability

Table for All

Written by Alexis Carpenter

Katy Neusner steps in to help pack Sack Packs for children who may not have food at home to help sustain them through the weekend. Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Photo by Alexis Carpenter.

The warehouse lights flicker on as volunteers walk through the door and make their way to rows of stacked pallets and assembly lines. The scent of produce and cardboard boxes mingle in the humid atmosphere, and the sound of pop music fills the large warehouse. Volunteers begin to sort canned goods, bag fresh vegetables, and prepare boxes for distribution.

Yet, beneath this effort lies a growing crisis. The Chattanooga Area Food Bank, a lifeline for residents across 20 counties in Tennessee and Georgia, is dealing with significant funding cuts. A nationwide halt of $500 million in federal food aid, including the suspension of USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation funding, has resulted in the cancellation of multiple truckloads of food. These shipments are now absent from the food bank’s inventory, leaving bare shelves within the warehouse.

In the midst of the working warehouse is Katy Neusner, the Advocacy and Communications Coordinator of the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. As the organization works to bridge the gap left by the funding cuts, Neusner and her colleagues face a task of sustaining their mission amid dwindling resources.​

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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, 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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Chattanooga, Chattanooga Audubon Society, Chattanooga outreach, community, Daily Life, Family, Healing, Health, Love, women

Homegrown Miracles

Written by Bethany Cothran

Scarlen Valderaz plays with her children in their family’s living room. Sunday, April 14, 2024.
(Photo by Bethany Cothran)

In a cold hospital room, Scarlen Valderaz gave birth to her first child in a room full of strangers, enduring the pain of childbirth while tackling every question thrown her way.

Finally seeing her baby boy, she was ecstatic, but she knew that she did not want to have another baby in a hospital.

“We actually didn’t know until my husband and I talked about our first born again that they kept offering me an epidural, and I had to say no because I didn’t want that,” Valderaz said. “…the last thing that you want to do when you’re pushing an entire baby out is having to make good decisions that are going to affect you.”

A couple years went by and Valderaz discovered she was pregnant once again, and this time, things would be different.

Valderaz and her husband researched and interviewed midwife after midwife, not stopping until they found the one they trusted best to deliver their baby.

Trading the cold hospital full of strangers and illnesses for the warmth and comfort of her own home, Valderaz could relax and give herself the space she needed to do what she felt would be best for her and the baby. 

“We go with homebirth because now there’s so much that happens in the medical system, especially when it comes to the lady through it,” Valderaz said. “There is a lot of autonomy that gets stripped away from the woman when she’s birthing.”

For Valderaz, there would be no race to the hospital for an on-call OB to deliver the child, she would instead be in the safety of her bedroom surrounded by her husband and trusted midwife. Rather than staring at the foreign furniture of a delivery room for hours with her baby wheeled away to the nursery soon after, she would look to her familiar bedroom walls and know that her baby would always be close to her.

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Chattanooga, community, Daily Life, Environment, Family, Love

Generational Gardens

Written by Maddie Charnes

Walden Peak Farm is a newly founded farm venue on a piece of generational land with rich history. (Photo by Maddie Charnes)

On the grassy mountain side located 20 miles from Chattanooga, the land of Walden Peak Farm has continued to be a place of family connections and community since 1841. 

“Something I think about is the people that used to be here,” said Lucy Bowick, former owner and resident of Walden Peak Farm. “I never come out here and I don’t think about them. They’re my ancestors.” 

In November of 1841, a land grant was deeded to Edwin Pickett and his brother. As the brothers married and settled, a flourishing community began. Although the family thrived from generation to generation, life was not always easy living on the mountain

“Times were not always easy,” said Jay Welch, Bowick’s sister and former resident of the farm. “We had a coal stove when I was growing up, and it was often very cold. We learned how to be self-sufficient living on the mountain.” 

Living further from the city, the sisters said they often farmed for their food and had to make their own way.

“There’s a saying in our family that if you’re not willing to fight for the land then you’re not worth having it,” Bowick 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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Animals, Chattanooga, community, Daily Life, Family, Love, outdoors

Beyond Alpacas: Wildwood’s Hidden Gem

Written by Sammy Mckenzie

The Lewis Family poses for a portrait on their farm with their Alpacas. Monday, November 13, 2023. (Photo by Sammy Mckenzie)

In Wildwood, Georgia, 20 minutes from downtown Chattanooga, sits Rosie Mae’s Alpacas Farm, boutique, and coffee shop all wrapped up into one. 

The unique business is owned and operated solely by the Lewis family who embarked on this journey one year ago as of November 4th. The entire property was built by hand by Max Lewis with support from his wife Meagan and daughter Rosie Mae.  

“He started on the shop in January of 2021. He did it all himself, so it took a little while to get it done. So we actually didn’t open until November of 2022. Plus, processes were outrageous because of COVID,”  Meagan Lewis said.

While it was a slow start to open, as soon as the Lewis family welcomed the public on their property, the business took off and hasn’t slowed down since.

“So we opened the store on November 4th of 2022 and then our daughter Sparrow was born November 29th. So that has been crazy. Then we went viral in April of 2023 and then from there on out we have been just absolutely slammed,” said Lewis. 

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Chattanooga, community, Daily Life, Diversity, Family, Immigration, women

Un Viaje de Oportunidades (A Journey of Opportunities)

Written By Cassandra Castillo

Editors Note: The following story was written in Spanish and translated to English. The two articles are listed side by side below.

Margarita Vicente arrived from Guatemala to a new world where she did not speak the language in a sea of over 1,000 students. With the help of various teachers at Howard High School she has achieved the skills of reading, writing, and speech in the span of three years.

Margarita Vicente llegó de Guatemala a un nuevo mundo donde no hablaba el idioma en un océano de 1,000 estudiantes. Con la ayuda de varios maestros en Howard High School, ella ha logrado leer, escribir, y hablar inglés durante sus tres años aquí. 
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Chattanooga, community, Daily Life, Family, Food, Hugs, Love

Miss Nola’s Gumbo

Written By Hannah Blair Hurt

Video By Cassandra Castillo.

If you happen to be rolling down Brainerd Road on a Saturday afternoon, you may find multiple generations of the Taylor family packed into their food truck, stirring up some authentic cajun cuisine. 

Tacia Taylor, affectionately called ‘Miss Nola’ by some in the community, runs Nola Girls Gumbo while also working a nine-to-five and running a nonprofit organization. Taylor is no stranger to the food industry; her parents opened their restaurant in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans when she was just thirteen years old. 

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Chattanooga, community, Family, Healing, Health, Hugs, Love

Pandemic Pains

By Seth Carpenter

Marianna Cooper gets her youngest daughter, Katie James, an afterschool snack. Friday, November 19, 2021 (Photo by Seth Carpenter)

For nearly two years, Marianna Cooper has worried about bringing her work home with her. 

As a nurse in the float pool, Cooper has been working around patients with COVID-19 since the pandemic originally began in the U.S. Already, that would be more than enough to gnaw at anyone, but like countless others in her position, she has had more than just herself to worry about. 

From the beginning, Cooper’s three children turned her 12-hour night shifts at Parkridge into 24-hour ones as she was faced with the possibility of bringing home the deadly disease every time she walked through her door.

“It’s always in the back of your mind,” she said. “You worry about doing simple things like giving your child a kiss on the cheek because… what if you’d had an exposure and you didn’t realize it, and now I’ve exposed my child.”

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