Community.
Service.
If you gave me two words to describe what I have witnessed these last six months of working with the Lookout Mountain Conservancy, those are the words I’d choose. But not together. Not community service.
But community.
And service.
We toss that phrase around pretty routinely, and, for good reason: community service looks like canned food drives to mowing widows’ lawns, all of it different, all of it good.
But what happens when a community exists in service?
Over the winter, I began working for the Lookout Mountain Conservancy, or LMC, helping the 34-year-old land trust tell its story. Boy, what a story. Launched 34 years ago, LMC is led by Robyn Carlton, its longtime, beloved leader. You know this, right? Everybody knows about LMC, right?
Robyn’s been the leader for many moons; she’s a trusted friend. For many of us, she’s the doorway to LMC. Her vision for the community involves remembering all those who have supported and encouraged this organization through the years.
Over the winter, spring and summer, I stepped into LMC, finding a world immeasurably beautiful in its community.
And its service.
First: the land. This region contains some of the most biodiverse life on the continent; shepherding over the billions upon billions of little pieces of this part of Creation - from migratory birds to the flowers that sustain them to the creeks and trees and native plants - are LMC’s 1500 acres of privately held land spreading over Lookout Mountain into Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. That alone marks the service of an ecological community.
But really, let’s look at what I call the triple gem: the 50-acre Boulders at Old Wauhatchie Park, John C. Wilson Park and The Guild-Hardy Trail.
This is protected, historic land that stretches into Civil War monuments, migratory bird nesting, indigenous history, and views that, quite literally, are worth millions. And all open to the public. The Guild Hardy Trail is enjoyed annually by tens of thousands of people; the bouldering park has 27 boulders for climbing used by recreational and competitive climbers every day of the year; the John C. Wilson Park is a refuge from the urban at the foot of Lookout Mountain, a reminder of the fact that civic action can stop thoughtless development.
Who cares for this land?
Who stewards it?
Who maintains, manages and knows its contours, histories and the way the breeze blows in the early afternoon?
You’ll never guess.
Young men and women from The Howard School.
They’re the LMC community united by service.
In 2012, Robyn and the school leadership formed a partnership: The Howard Leadership Program. LMC would hire, mentor and train high school students, offering a laundry list of valuable things: regular wages, outdoor relief, career-and-life skills, mentorship and access to a greater network of Chattanoogans and the quiet, deep-seated ease that comes from being outside, near gardens, honeybee hives, butterflies and shade trees.
You can imagine these moments: every Saturday during the school year and every weekday during the summer, two dozen intern leaders - really, they’re our region’s future conservationists - come to the LMC boulder park and serve as stewards: weed-eating, pruning, planting, digging, transplanting, chopping, mowing, harvesting.
They built landing crash pads - by hand - for 27 bouldering sites.
But first? They uncovered the boulders from decades of kudzu overgrowth.
They carried heave-ho bags of cement, mulch and gravel up long hills, shoulder-to-shoulder up through the park.
The only machinery they use?
“Weed-eaters,” said Aasean Whitener, an LMC intern leader and sophomore at The University of Saint Mary. “We pride ourselves on not using heavy machinery beyond our own hands.”
So, as the city hustles and bustles around them, these two dozen interns from one of our nation’s oldest historically-Black high schools care for 50 acres in the heart of some of the most cherished and coveted real estate in the city.
They protect and steward the Guild-Hardy Trail for thousands of others to use.
And, in the midst of shared hard work - the service - the most special thing arises.
Community.
From day one, Robyn created a very thoughtful program that had layers of response: interns are there at 8 am sharp or they head back home. A tiered system of leadership - demonstrated by t-shirt colors - allows for interns to mentor, help and befriend other interns. Yes, there’s outside job shadowing, but the first version of this exists among interns; the older ones leading the younger ones in a most precious form of fellowship and mentoring.
Here’s what it sounds like as a lived experience:
“Before I joined Lookout Mountain Conservancy, life was just survival. I was living on the West Side with my mom and three siblings. My mom, a single parent, was doing everything she could to take care of us, but it was hard. Real hard. We didn’t have food stamps or government help, and there were days when we just had to make do. Before we moved to the West Side, we were homeless. A woman helped us cover rent for a place, and we were grateful, but the struggle didn’t end there. My mom didn’t have a car at first, so just getting to school was a job on its own.”
That’s Jada. (You can read her life story at lookoutmountainconservancy.org.) Thoughtful, grounded and with that personality that sticks.
Earlier this spring, Jada’s graduated and, like every other LMC intern, has college tuition aid.
But she wants something else.
She wants to serve her country.
“The US Navy,” she said.
It was LMC that shifted the ground so that Jada could grow.
“Out here, I got stronger. Mentally and physically. I used to be lazy, on the game all day. Now I’m outside, I’m working, I’m moving. I’ve got confidence I didn’t have before. I can talk to people now. I can even lead.”
“I’ve also gotten more comfortable with nature. I used to just think trails were trails. But now I know someone had to build those. Had to clean them, maintain them. I helped build a rock wall out here. It took forever and people were arguing, but eventually, we learned how to work as a team. We got it done. That wall still stands, and I’m proud of it.”
“Before LMC, I didn’t really know what I wanted after high school. Now I do. I want to go to the Navy. I did ROTC in 10th and 11th grade, and it gave me that discipline. I’m not taking a break after graduation because I know if I do, I won’t get back up. I’m going straight in.”
“I’m not sure yet what job I’ll have in the Navy, but I know I want to serve. I want to keep growing, keep working hard. Being out here, getting my hands dirty, standing in the sun- it got me ready for that. It gave me the confidence to know I can do something hard and still come out stronger.”
This is the language of transformation and resurrection. Imagine 100 other interns saying similar things.
Here’s Monica. (Her story can be read at lookoutmountainconservancy.org.)
“My work ethic changed too. I didn’t even know I had it in me to work this hard. But LMC showed me I did. And when I earned my blue shirt, it was a big deal. I had been putting in the effort for months, and when it happened, I knew I deserved it. That shirt wasn’t just a color; it was recognition. It was people seeing me, the real me.”
“And that’s the thing. Feeling seen. Before LMC, I didn’t always have that. At home, with everything going on, my family was often too busy, too tired, or just didn’t know how to talk about what I was going through. I felt invisible sometimes. Like my struggles weren’t big enough for anyone to notice. But at LMC, people paid attention. They saw my effort. They motivated me, gave me confidence. They saw that I was struggling and gave me the space to heal and come out of my shell. And that meant everything.”
“Looking back, I know I’ve changed. Not just because I can swing a tool or haul mulch, but because I’ve learned how to lead. I’ve learned how to listen, take responsibility, and push through hard days. I’ve grown into someone I’m actually proud of.”
“I’m getting ready to graduate now, and I’m planning to study kinesiology at Southern Adventist. I want to be an athletic trainer- stay close to the world I’ve always loved, soccer, but help others when they’re hurt. I’ve had my fair share of injuries, and I know how hard that can be, mentally and physically. I want to be someone who makes athletes feel seen, like they’re not alone in what they’re going through. I know what that’s like.”
For years, I thought I knew LMC. But I realized it was a lot like talking about Bach compared to actually hearing an actual concerto. When you witness the immeasurable power and love held within a container of young men and women from some of the most disadvantaged and overlooked neighborhoods who are stewarding land for the entire city, the world looks different.
Come see for yourself.
On Thursday, LMC hosts its annual Shrimp Boil, a big party - with 1885 Grill, drinks, overlooking the river and downtown - that’s a fundraiser for the Howard Leadership Program. Tickets can be purchased at lookoutmountainconservancy.org or by calling 423.424.3882.
These interns will be there. You can see their work; they’ll tour you through the bouldering park, telling its story, and theirs.
It will be a night of community linked together in service of so many good things.
Many words will be said. You may only need two.
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(David Cook is the former columnist with the Times Free Press and founder of Food as a Verb, our region’s only media devoted to local food stories. He also serves as the Director of Storytelling for the Lookout Mountain Conservancy. He may be reached at david@lookoutmountainconservancy.org)