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Category: Featured

Grounded Connections in Nature

Radical Hope in the Woods

Radical Hope in the Woods is a restorative, community-centered experience designed to reconnect the Black community to the land, to one another, and to the wisdom within. This event series invites participants to slow down, breathe deeply, and remember that healing is both personal and collective.

A group of smiling people on the steps of Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods.

Developed and led by Ashley Cullen-Williams, Brushwood Center Senior Program Director, the event series premiered in the spring of 2026. The experience was woven like a quilt of memory. It featured virtual healing circles, folklore storytelling, and mindful walks that echoed the footsteps of the enslaved ancestors who moved through dense forests under moonlight, guided by stars, spirit, and unshakable will to be free.

“Through the honoring of slave narratives, freedom songs, and oral traditions passed hand to hand and voice to voice, the project bridged past and present- blending ancestral knowledge with contemporary practices of mindfulness and creative expression,” Ashley explains.

Participants gathered both online and beneath open skies to not only remember, but to feel: to sit with the land, honoring ancestral resilience, tending to generational wounds and reclaiming the outdoors as sacred ground for rest, remembrance, and radical hope.

Ashley Cullen-Williams leads the group in the woods.
Chef Jeffrey Williams in the kitchen at Brushwood, fist-bumping a participant.
The group hikes at Ryerson Woods. A young child walks backwards between two adults.
The group walks into Ryerson Woods in early spring.

“I wanted to bring more Black people outdoors- not just to visit, but to remember,” Ashley shared. “To rebuild our relationship with nature as something that has always been ours. Historically, the woods have held stories of fear- of being hunted, of running, of surviving. But those same woods also held strategy, protection, and possibility. At Brushwood, I was invited- pushed even- to step outside, to slow down, to regulate, to listen deeply. And in that listening, I was reminded that this connection belongs to me. It has always belonged to us.”

The group hikes in the woods together.

Radical Hope in the Woods is supported by Healing Illinois. Healing Illinois is a racial healing initiative of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and the Field Foundation of Illinois.

Brushwood’s Impact in 2025

Flourishing Together: Ashley’s Brushwood Story

Ashley Cullen-Williams first came to Brushwood when she worked as TRiO Educational Talent Search manager in Waukegan. She was looking for a safe place for staff and students to relax and connect after the pandemic. Little did she know that she was stepping into a new chapter, one that culminated in her becoming Brushwood Center’s Senior Program Director.

The following film shares Ashley’s story, and highlights Brushwood’s impact through her unique perspective. This video, created by our videographer in residence, Kateryna Sazonova, debuted at the 2025 Smith Nature Symposium Awards Dinner, and we wanted to share it with our entire community. Watch Ashley’s Brushwood journey from participant, to partner, to director!

Supporting Children’s Mental Health: Big Feelings and Climate Anxiety

By Eddie Flores, Youth Education Coordinator

Through my work with Brushwood Center, I see firsthand that students face a lot of unknowns, anxiety, and big fears about our world, especially climate change. The activities and resources in this year’s Nature Explorer Backpacks / Mochilas de Explorador strengthen students’ social emotional learning skills and give them tools to navigate big feelings.

A young girl picks up her new Nature Explorer Backpack in Highwood

Students will learn about “hidden gem” nature sites in Lake County that have healed through community care. Our goal is to give young people hope for our environmental future by showcasing examples of people coming together to care for and advocate for nature in their own communities. We are excited to highlight these places because they are lesser known but have really powerful stories! Featured locations include the Council Circle at Bowen Park, the Waukegan Dunes, and an over 100-year- old oak tree at one of our partner libraries. In addition, our Backpacks will include a parent packet with resources for adults, which will connect more families to the wonderful resources and groups around Lake County educating about environmental justice.

Eddie Flores and kids investigate a stick found on a nature hike

I myself experience feelings of climate anxiety. I see what’s happening around the world in terms of climate change, war, conflict, and injustices. I increasingly worry about what the future holds for us. As someone who lives in an environmental justice (EJ) community doing this type of work, I know how draining and tiring this work can be. It’s important to prioritize our mental health. Sharing mental health tools, resources, and techniques with youth is really important to me. We all need support systems. 

Teaching about environmental justice issues and talking about the realities of what it’s like to live in these EJ communities has been personally really healing. Growing up I never received formal or informal education about the EJ issues in my community, and it’s so cool to be the person I wish I had while growing up and to bring awareness to these issues and how they affect our environment and health. 

Eddie Flores holds a vial during a lecture on pollution as kids around him raise their hands

Recently, I guided students through a modeling activity exploring the impacts of pollution on water. We not only discussed the impacts to the immediate environment, but also what it meant for communities that may have contaminated air or water, the health of humans and animals, as well as the recreational beauty of nature around us. This activity and conversation is something that I would have loved to engage in during my childhood. Over the past several years I’ve been raising awareness about the environmental justice issues occurring in Northeastern Lake County through my work with Clean Power Lake County. It is rewarding to continue shining light on these issues and bringing awareness to a wider group of youth throughout Lake County. 

It’s a huge honor and privilege that I get to be at the forefront, connecting with our youth who will be inheriting this land. If I can get even just a few kids to feel connected to the environment and start caring about it, then I’ll know I’ve made my impact. I feel proud to work with the next generation of leaders!

Support Health, Equity, and Nature Exploration this Summer!

Brushwood Center and our partners across Lake County are teaming up to provide 1,500 bilingual Nature Explorer Backpacks / Mochilas de Explorador as well as educational programs to youth and family members in Waukegan, North Chicago, Round Lake, Gurnee, and Highwood. You can help! Your donation to the Backpack Project provides families with tools for supporting physical and mental health, along with opportunities to explore Lake County’s parks, preserves, and other natural areas.

Donate here! $10 can provide art supplies for one Nature Explorer Backpack!

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