Rolling for a Better Future

A Colorado bike builder creates adapted cycles for athletes who otherwise rely on wheelchairs for mobility. The cycles allow adventurous people with disabilities to ride trails and access difficult terrain.

Obesity has become a health crisis for many women in the African-American community, but a group known as GirlTrek is working to change this by making exercise a social norm and creating supportive connections between women with shared goals. This new organization, which works to identify barriers that many in this community face, channels African-American history to encourage black women to walk their way toward better health.

A mountain bike riding series for women at Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor is making the sport more accessible by giving new and returning riders the chance to hone their skills with other women on closed trails.

Queer cowboys, cowgirls, and cowfolx attend gay rodeos across the United States to compete and partake in community events that are more welcoming than traditional rodeos. The International Gay Rodeo Association was founded in 1985 and continued to host events that anyone is welcome to join without judgment ever since.

Utah State University’s Women’s Climb Night is a designated two-and-a-half hours per week when the climbing walls are cleared for women to practice the male-dominated sport with other women. This way, they can spend time in an accessible, non-intimidating, and non-judgmental space.

LGBTQIA+ inclusive sports leagues in Phoenix, Arizona, provide a safe space for members of the community to participate in a variety of organized sports without fear of discrimination.

To encourage more Black people to explore outdoors, individuals and organizations in Colorado are working to address underlying barriers such as access to transportation and gear, as well as fear and concerns of safety. Despite the groups still encountering "frustrating" incidents with other outdoor recreationalists, the movement has spread to other states and steadily attracted a growing community of members.

A Belarus women’s-empowerment support group using the Wen-Do method ends each session with the students breaking a piece of wood with a chop of their hand, a literal show of strength that communicates how defending against men’s harassment and physical attacks may require physical force as well as assertiveness. In Canada, where the method began, the training -- a mix of martial arts lessons and support-group dialog -- is associated with a 46% reduction in rape and 64% drop in attempted sexual assault.

In New York and across eleven other cities in the United States, a non-profit organization called Back On My Feet leads early morning runs (starting at 5:30am) with members overcoming homelessness and the volunteers who choose to join them. In the course of twelve years, the organization helped over 7,500 members transition into permanent jobs and homes, with 83 percent of members maintaining employment and 70 percent maintaining housing. There are also physical health benefits including lower blood pressure, less dependence on nicotine, and a reduced BMI and obesity risk.

At Madwaleni Hospital's rehabilitation ward in South Africa, medical professionals and physical therapists are using what is known as block therapy to better help individuals who are living with a disability. Rather than individuals visiting the hospital at frequent, regular intervals, the healthcare workers here to see the patients for one-week periods less frequently. This doesn't just cut down on barriers, such as the cost of care and lack of transportation, but has also been shown to help individuals better retain the rehabilitation lessons and recover faster.