Tag: Health

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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Chattanooga, community, Daily Life, Diversity, Entertainment, Family, Health, Safety, Sports, UTC

Golden Age, Golden Hoops

Written by Guy DeWeese

76-year-old Ernest Harris speaks about playing pick-up basketball at his local YMCA and what being active and on his feet with friends means to him.

Elbow pads are strapped on, knee pads are adjusted and you can hear neck braces being velcroed. This is just a typical day at the Hamilton Family YMCA basketball court. Most young hoopers don’t even bother playing against the seasoned vets.. For these senior hoopers, this is their lifestyle. 

John Hendrickson recently moved to Chattanooga from Illinois and the 78-year-old man is one of the many seniors actively playing basketball every Monday at the YMCA. 

“Many of us have a good background in basketball, just a group of guys wanting to do something together,” Hendrickson said.

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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, community, Family, Healing, Health, Sports

Modern Gladiator

Written by Carter Graham

Gage Bell poses for an environmental portrait with MMA gloves. Monday, Nov. 25, 2024 (Photo by Carter Graham)

As “Voodoo Child” blares from the arena speakers, Gage Bell’s mind isn’t on Jimi Hendrix’s famous guitar licks or the roaring crowd. Instead, he is mentally preparing for a fight against an opponent he’s never met or seen.. 

If someone had told Bell three years ago he would have been entering the cage of a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight, he would have called them crazy. His path to combat sports was different than most, he didn’t grow up wrestling or fighting, instead he focused on baseball and basketball. 

It wasn’t until his junior year of high school that Bell had even considered a different sport. 

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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, 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, community, Daily Life, Diversity, Environment, Family, Health, outdoors, Sports, UTC

Run Nooga Run

Written by Maya Spratley

The Chattanooga Run Club is a group of individuals who value community and welcome new runners with open arms. Drew White speaks with Lucas Gallon, founder of the club, about the club’s impact on the Chattanooga area and the people who attend.

The low patter of footsteps and the occasional labored breath can be heard throughout downtown Chattanooga. A group of strangers gather due to their shared interest in running, but in the process, they gain community. 

Those exploring North Chattanooga early Saturday morning might run into the Chattanooga Run Club.   

The idea that someone actively chooses to push their body in a way that causes their heart to race, blood to pulse, and sweat to drip can seem daunting to some. The Chattanooga Run Club aims to change that perspective on running. According to the club’s founder, Lucas Gallon, the club prides itself on welcoming all speeds and experience levels. 

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Animals, art, Chattanooga, community, Daily Life, Dance, Diversity, Entertainment, Environment, Family, Health, Love, Music, outdoors, Sports, Uncategorized, UTC, women

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. To listen to Scenic Roots, visit https://www.wutc.org/scenic-roots.

Tiny Bailarinas

Ava Nessell spoke with Wendy Reynoso, the student success and services coordinator at La Paz Chattanooga, about her experience finding a community in Chattanooga after immigrating from Guatemala. 

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Animals, community, Diversity, Entertainment, Health, Sports

The Boys in Boaz

Written by Abby White

Brylan Miller supports a visiting bull rider in the chute. Sunday, December 3, 2023. (Photo by Abby White)

Gravel and dust kick up while passing through the iron gates branded “BZ” after a scenic ride through rural Alabama. Blue heelers circle cars as guests are welcomed by the roaring banter of bullfighters and riders. You’ve landed at Bioz Zoe, a home away from home for many. 

Located in Boaz, Alabama, Bioz Zoe provides a community for beginner, intermediate, and professional riders and fighters attracting people from all walks of life, including bull rider and inspirational speaker, Brylan Miller. 

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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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