Melissa Roberts believes in the healing power of nature and that the outdoors are truly for everyone.
“Going outside and doing outdoor recreation with other people. I think that is like the multivitamin,” she said. “It gets everything. It covers all the bases in just one shot.”
Roberts is the third-generation owner of the Ski Shack in Moosic, in northeastern Pennsylvania. In 2022, she turned the business into a year-round outfitter. Roberts began guiding hikes and paddle board classes locally. She found her calling: helping everyone regardless of age, ability, financial constraints or backgrounds get outside.
This year, she created Wild Wellness NEPA [northeastern Pa.] to fulfill that mission. The new nonprofit through the Luzerne Foundation promotes outdoor recreation as a key component of overall health and well-being.
“I really want this nonprofit to be able to provide people the opportunity to, to get outside, to eliminate any barriers there may be,” she said inside her shop this week.
The nonprofit’s programs will likely start next year. For now, she’s spreading the word.
“As I’ve been reaching out to different leaders in the community, I’ve been so encouraged by the support and the enthusiasm for this type of programming,” she said. “Going forward, I see just year-round opportunities.”
For now, she is helping to design programming for the local chapter of the Special Olympics.
“Because we’re still so new, we’re looking to collaborate with other organizations, seeing what the needs are in our community and how we can best help,” she said.
Wild Wellness also provided over $4,000 in grants to an event Roberts helped create, the upcoming Wild Women NEPA Festival.
“It’s really about connecting women in nature,” she said.
The grants cover entrance fees for the clients and employees of over a dozen local nonprofits to attend the festival on Aug. 25 at Lazybrook Park in Tunkhannock.
Roberts is the mom of two boys with special needs.
“I have witnessed firsthand just the therapeutic benefits and the power of nature, and how much they’ve benefited from being out in nature.”
In her experience, getting outside helps decrease burnout and other kinds of mental health crises and addiction.
“There’s populations in our community that need this help, that need this healing.”
For more details, visit https://www.wildwellnessnepa.org/.
