Tennessee Voices, Episode 318: Darrell Hawks, executive director, Friends of Mill Ridge Park
Southeast Nashville is the fastest-growing part of Nashville-Davidson County, but residents lack access to green space, unlike other areas in town.
More than half of Nashvillians live 10 miles or more from a park, and green space has provided physical and health benefits for people including fresh air and opportunities for exercise and recreation. They are also places of connection. These spaces became especially important during the hardest stages of the COVID-19 pandemic when social distancing prevented many people from gathering.
That is why the Friends of Mill Ridge Park has worked so hard to achieve their dream of opening a 600-plus-acre park in Antioch near Interstate 24's Exit 62 (Old Hickory Boulevard).
On this episode of the Tennessee Voices video podcast, the nonprofit's executive director Darrell Hawks talked about the effort, the work that is being done and activities the organization is doing even while the park is in progress.
Among those is Kite Fest and Pumpkin Patch Parties throughout the weekends in October.
Advocates, local leaders and Mayor John Cooper broke ground on the park on June 12, 2021, and it is currently in its first phase.
Hawks reminded me that Southeast Nashville was disproportionately affected by COVID, which made it more urgent to create spaces for the community to heal and thrive while engaging in the work of preservation and sustainability.
The North Carolina native shared his back story of working in business development before entering the nonprofit world.
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The Tennessee Voices videocast is a 20-minute program, which started in March 2020 and invites leaders, thinkers and innovators who have written guest columns for a USA TODAY Network Tennessee publication to share their insights and wisdom with me and our viewers.
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David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee and an editorial board member of The Tennessean. Tweet to him at @davidplazas.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Voices: Darrell Hawks, Friends of Mill Ridge Park
