November 2022

No matter who you are or where you live, there’s a hike within reach and a world of benefits to tap into. Many of us think hiking has to take place in the mountains by a beautiful lake or in a gorgeous meadow filled with wildflowers. And many people picture a bearded mountain man in a flannel shirt who’s carrying an enormous pack — with a tin cup and some climbing rope dangling off the back. You certainly can hike in the mountains, and you can be a bearded “mountain man” sporting a flannel shirt. But that’s a very narrow description of hiking. Really, a hike is just a long walk, and it can happen anywhere — from mountain trails to paths through your own neighborhood. We’re all hiking a lot more than we think. And we can do it in a lot more places than we think.

This post is part of Healthy People 2020 in Review, a blog series highlighting how organizations across the nation are addressing social determinants of health — and how their efforts have helped us make progress toward Healthy People goals and objectives. The post describes how Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry, a Healthy People 2030 Champion, contributed to progress toward Healthy People 2020 objectives — as well as Healthy People 2030 objectives under the social determinants of health domain Neighborhood and Built Environment.