Melanie Seiler, executive director of Active Southern West Virginia (Active SWV) is passionate about making adventure, outdoor recreation and health and wellness accessible to everyone. Active SWV is a non-profit with the mission of creating opportunities for free physical activity to improve the health of West Virginia’s workforce and bring opportunities to populations in rural areas facing significant social and economic barriers.
“Part of my experience with Active Southern West Virginia was trying to promote hikes and people would say, ‘We don’t hike, that’s what the tourists do.’ I would suggest a walk in the woods and they would reply, ‘We used to walk in the woods all the time’ and people would accept that. That’s how different these terms can be. Hiking has this perception that they have to be geared-up or that it’s expensive and vigorous.”
In her line of work, Seiler says she has found that access and perceptions are as much a boundary for people participating in regular physical activity as social and economic barriers.
“There’s a perception you have to participate in gear-based outdoor recreation, like skiing and snow sports, for instance. Or there’s an idea it’s for a higher class, and people of diversity aren’t often included in these programs. That simply is not the case. We have a lot of photos from our programs of people in jeans and tennis shoes riding bikes, or a man in camo overalls doing tai chi, for example,” she says.
If you are interested in doing a full story about the accessibility of outdoor recreation or adventure activities, Active SWV, their programming or upcoming events, please reach out to Melanie Seiler.
Melanie Seiler is a graduate of the Adventure Recreation Management program at WVU Tech. WVU Tech is a proud partner with Active Southern West Virginia.
