When COVID cancelled the Eugene Marathon, race organizers and longtime partner PeaceHealth were looking for a replacement project to build community health. A turning point came in May of 2020 with the murder of George Floyd.
“We thought immediately that we need to turn our efforts to a social justice initiative,” said Marcy Marshall, PeaceHealth Oregon’s Senior Director of Marketing and Communications. “We were brainstorming and we came up with an idea that would marry social justice into our collective efforts around health and wellness.”
Not long after, Strides for Social Justice was born.
PeaceHealth reached out to prominent Black leaders in the Eugene area to seek input to create and guide the program, which consists of an app to guide participants to various landmarks of local Black history while providing historical context.
The routes are designed to be traveled in the way that suits the user best and were created to be accessible to all ability levels.
“What I do now is, not the walking shoes on, but I ride my bike and so the fun part about it is going up there and riding back down, and then just seeing people of color walking the track and just everybody’s there and it’s free, it’s for the taking,” said DeLeesa Meashintubby, Executive Director of the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic of Lane County and a Strides for Social Justice steering committee member. She said it’s very meaningful to learn more about the achievements of Black residents in Eugene as well as the struggles that they faced.
“I did not know the true history here,” she said. “It just made me feel good to, how do you say it, we represent? And now we’re representing who we truly are in this community.”
One of the more popular routes is a tour of the murals in Westmoreland Park which honor Dr. Edwin Coleman Jr., whose name adorns the community center there. An educator, musician and community activist, Dr. Coleman was a fixture in the Black community for more than half a century.
One group of walkers used the Strides app to guide their walk and read aloud from the markers.
“To know that you’re not alone and to know that someone has come before you and has faced those struggles and maybe paved that way is nice to hear and to see what they left behind for me to benefit from,” said Nanyel Hillsberry, a Data Coordinator for PeaceHealth.
Aside from the knowledge gained, the group exchanged experiences about race relations in Lane County, building empathy along the way.
PeaceHealth recently added two new Strides for Social Justice routes on the University of Oregon campus. One highlights the achievements and experiences of Black UO athletes and coaches and the other focuses on academic achievements and student life.
Marshall said the community embrace of the program has helped make it successful, as has the support of PeaceHealth Oregon leadership. “Social justice is a core value,” she said. “It’s only through awareness that we will be able to dismantle racism in our society.”
Meashintubby agrees. “We can’t get to the future until we know our history and then once we know our history then we can help shape the future.”