Over the past century, much of Mercer County has emerged as a green oasis in our urban state. Acres of preserved spaces, hiking trails, and farms open to the public provide many residents with welcome recreation and rejuvenation. That positive outcome is due largely to the hard work of decades-old land trusts such as D&R Greenway and Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space.
Now, an emerging nonprofit called Outdoors On Purpose (OOP) is making strides in getting historically marginalized people to explore and steward these natural spaces. Founded in 2020 by Tenisha Malcolm-Wint, OOP became a formal 501(c)(3) in 2024, when it expanded its outreach statewide. The group’s work is based on four foundational pillars: Engage, Educate, Encourage, and Explore.
THROUGH THE WOODS
“There is a miscommunication that the outdoors is not a place for people of color,” Malcolm-Wint says, explaining that “beyond physical barriers that have historically prevented access—such as hiking trails being far from urban centers and public transportation—there can be an association between the woods and trauma. Generational memory of ancestors being chased through the woods, assaulted in the woods, hiding in the woods, witnessing people being hung from tree. . . .All this can result in a disconnect with nature.”
Malcolm-Wint wants to restore that connection. She began the group by leading hikes that educated participants about nature exploration (what to wear, what to bring, navigating, seeing wildlife, etc.) and facilitated conversations on feelings of fear, safety, and history. Her goal is to bridge the gap between people of color and the great outdoors. “I see this as a reclamation of space. Hiking, birding, camping, canoeing, and all the health benefits that go with that. . . .It’s for us too.”
MAJOR MILESTONE
This year was marked by growth. In October, OOP hosted Hike Out the Vote, a 2.3-mile group hike at Billie Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve in Princeton, where voter registration was also made available. (So far, Malcolm-Wint has been planning and leading excursions; experienced hikers are encouraged to visit oopnj.org and volunteer to lead future outings.) In November, the group, along with its agricultural partners and friends, collected 100 pounds of apples to donate to Mercer County Community College’s Thanksgiving Food Baskets.
One major milestone for Outdoors On Purpose has been the addition this year of Renata Barnes as the new Director of Programs and Community Engagement. Barnes, formerly the director of programs and community engagement for the Outdoor Equity Alliance, brought her experience and her reputation, which earned her a New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Changemaker Award in June. Barnes is developing opportunities for OOP to include farming and food production in its programming.
SPRING 2025 INTERNSHIPS
One such opportunity is the Outdoors On Purpose aGROculture Internship Program, set to launch in Spring 2025. The 12-week internship connects high school students with hands-on agricultural experiences and education on the history, business, customs, and politics connected to farming, with an emphasis on people from emerging communities.
According to the 2024 Census of Agriculture, New Jersey currently has 9,998 farms operating on 711,502 acres of land worked by 18,591 farmers. Of those, 38 percent are women farmers, 29 percent are new/beginner farmers, and less than 1 percent are Black farmers. Ninety-seven Black farmers are farming 1,403 acres of land (0.2 percent of total NJ farmland) across 61 farms (0.6 percent of total NJ farms). Similar to hiking and nature exploration, many people of color have inherited a disconnect from land stewardship that Outdoors on Purpose strives to rectify through its programs.
“We always start in the dirt,” Barnes describes. “I educate the interns on how everything starts and ends with dirt, and [that] we should be mindful of it. Our aGROculture interns get to plant seeds, nurture growth, and see the fruits of their labor. We talk about connecting with the land and food production, how it relates to our daily lives. How that relates to global issues like food insecurity, waste, environmental degradation, agribusiness, and social justice. We help them understand the connectivity of it all.”
Partnering with local farms and environmental educators, the aGROculture Internship provides an additional opportunity after students complete the 12-week internships by inviting them to participate in so-called “externships.”
“We are a multi-ethnic, multi-able, multi-lingual collective,” emphasizes Barnes. “We collaborate with inspiring people like Tomia McQueen at Wildflower Farm in Pennington, Rob Flory and Pete Watson at Howell Living History Farm in Titusville. We are encouraging future generations to become stewards of the earth. Young people are coming back to us after going through our programs, they are coming back to support the work. And we need more help.”
Outdoors On Purpose is actively seeking volunteers and financial support for its mission to inspire a love of the environment and empower individuals to become earth stewards. This can be achieved by leading inclusive opportunities for emerging communities to connect with nature. A Board of Directors was recently established, and volunteers are needed in a variety of areas, including marketing, curriculum writing, grant writing, research, mapping, fundraising, program development and design, and leading excursions.
OOPNJ.org provides information on programs, a volunteer sign-up form, and a donation button. Outdoors On Purpose is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. More about this work across the state can be found at Outdoor Equity Alliance and NJ Food Democracy Collaborative.
