North Alabama mom inspires others to explore the great outdoors

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - The COVID-19 pandemic has made north Alabama residents explore the outdoors. That’s the mission for Zenovia Stephens. She’s always loved the great outdoors, and fell in love with hiking as an adult.

“I’m from Chicago so we took a lot of time walking on the lake front, and just hanging out,” Stephens said via phone.

“It wasn’t until I became an adult that I began hiking. I actually started hiking to cope with different things that were going on in my life.”

Stephens’ family continues to explore and bring their adventures to life. She started a nonprofit called Black Kids Adventures and has a popular blog in Huntsville called Black Adventure Crew. The great outdoors has been beneficial to her family and her sons.

“If it’s a long day at school for instance, If I felt my son’s energy level a little bit off in the morning, I would make it point to walk and pick him up from school in the evening or afternoon, so we could have that time together, tell me about the day, and have that connection with nature and use it to literally help heal ourselves.”

For Stephens, continuing to educate Huntsville residents about the outdoors is her life’s mission.

“Think outside the box,” Stephens added. “I want them to know that there’s so much out there than what they’ve already been exposed to. You don’t know what you like until you try it, plain and simple. I wanna bring that mindset to the community, I want them to be open to trying something new.”

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