{"id":22353,"date":"2024-08-14T05:17:20","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T09:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/multi.nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/?p=22353"},"modified":"2025-02-13T09:40:27","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T14:40:27","slug":"brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Attorney’s Wilderness Program Empowering BIPOC Youth"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By:\u00a0Brianna Robles<\/a><\/p>\n

Sam Gregory, the founder of\u00a0Brooklyn To Alaska<\/a>, has spent over 35 years tackling serious cases as a criminal\u00a0defense attorney<\/a>\u00a0in New York. He witnessed people young and old succumb to their own environment, many of whom lacked adequate resources and a fighting chance of overcoming cycles of crime and trauma.<\/p>\n

His clients were the exact people who needed to experience the healing virtues of nature, something he discovered while on a solo cycling trip throughout the West in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

Gregory imagined that if nature was this expansive in its ability to heal a person holistically, then it must be shared with those around him. He\u00a0came back from his trip and spent years trying to connect with organizations to send Brooklyn students to Alaska, to little avail.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
But after a neighbor told him to \u201cstop complaining and just do it yourself,\u201d Gregory laced up his boots in 2008 and committed to taking five students to the mountains in Alaska for a trip of a lifetime.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Now, over the past 16 years, Gregory\u2019s passion project has helped the next generation of Black and brown students become certified wilderness guides and experience the world outside of their homes through various skill-building and growth exercises in Alaska.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I hope this program does is just create the time and the space for these kids to be able to experience that [Alaska] in whatever way they experience, \u201d Gregory told BK Reader. \u201c[To] create whatever narrative they want to create based upon the opportunity to be in a place that\u2019s beautiful and quiet, that sounds different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"brooklyn-to-alaska-bk2ak\"

A Brooklyn To Alaska participant preparing to raft the Chitina River. Photo: Supplied\/Brooklyn To Alaska.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The nonprofit partners with schools and organizations around the city, like the nonprofit\u00a0BKLYN Combine<\/a>, to find students that are recommended by teachers and guidance counsellors.<\/p>\n

From these recommendations, up to 10 students are selected to participate in the two-week program, split into a\u00a0Girl\u2019s and Boy\u2019s Trip. They can then be nominated by group leaders to join the Grad to Guide program for certification.<\/p>\n

When the students arrive, group leaders take each participant\u2019s phone to ensure they are fully immersed in the trip, which Gregory said is one of the hardest part\u00a0for some participants. They are allowed contact with their family on designated days and can be reached through group leaders, however.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
During the program, participants learn survival skills like how to cook a meal, hike a mountain and set up a camp in and around\u00a0Wrangell-St. Elias<\/a>\u00a0National Park, America\u2019s largest national park. The trip also involves rafting on the wild\u00a0Chitina River<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

McKi Calix, a 13-year-old from East New York,\u00a0admitted he was initially nervous about attending\u00a0the trip because he didn\u2019t know what to expect. But as he got to know the other participants, he felt much more comfortable, he said.<\/p>\n

With the help of his peers and group leaders, Calix was able to overcome the difficulty of hiking the steep slopes of the\u00a0Kennecott\u00a0Trails and McCarthy\u00a0Road<\/a>, which taught him to never give up, he said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
Beyond learning wilderness skills, participants learn how to tackle difficult challenges, Gregory said. Students who go into the program not sure of their capabilities show they are capable of doing hard things under pressure.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe biggest accomplishment we have is we change people\u2019s image of themselves,\u201d said Gregory. \u201cAnd they [participants] come back with a level of confidence they didn\u2019t have when they left.\u201d<\/p>\n

To find out more information about Brooklyn To Alaska, you can visit their website\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By:\u00a0Brianna Robles Sam Gregory, the founder of\u00a0Brooklyn To Alaska, has spent over 35 years tackling serious cases as a criminal\u00a0defense attorney\u00a0in New York. He witnessed people young and old succumb to their own environment, many of whom lacked adequate resources and a fighting chance of overcoming cycles of crime and trauma. His clients were the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5904,"featured_media":22354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,3461,2870,2717,67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whats-buzzin","category-development","category-education","category-bk-news","category-sports-brooklyn-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBrooklyn Attorney's Wilderness Program Empowering BIPOC Youth - Brooklyn News and Events<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brooklyn Attorney's Wilderness Program Empowering BIPOC Youth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By:\u00a0Brianna Robles Sam Gregory, the founder of\u00a0Brooklyn To Alaska, has spent over 35 years tackling serious cases as a criminal\u00a0defense attorney\u00a0in New York. He witnessed people young and old succumb to their own environment, many of whom lacked adequate resources and a fighting chance of overcoming cycles of crime and trauma. His clients were the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brooklyn News and Events\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-14T09:17:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-13T14:40:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/brooklyn-to-alaska.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brooklyn Buzz News Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brooklyn Buzz News Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/\",\"name\":\"Brooklyn Attorney's Wilderness Program Empowering BIPOC Youth - Brooklyn News and Events\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/brooklyn-to-alaska.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-14T09:17:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-13T14:40:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/#\/schema\/person\/da9080898e2ce6a46f024597da8da166\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/brooklyn-to-alaska.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/brooklyn-to-alaska.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":640,\"caption\":\"The Brooklyn To Alaska program immerses students in the Alaskan wilderness to learn survival skills and participate in growth exercises. Photo: Supplied\/Brooklyn To Alaska\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Brooklyn Attorney’s Wilderness Program Empowering BIPOC Youth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/\",\"name\":\"Brooklyn News and Events\",\"description\":\"For What's Buzzin' in Brooklyn\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/#\/schema\/person\/da9080898e2ce6a46f024597da8da166\",\"name\":\"Brooklyn Buzz News Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a5f050eee775dccede49d98fa5b10566df3cef9bf4eff092dd6f1334e0565eda?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a5f050eee775dccede49d98fa5b10566df3cef9bf4eff092dd6f1334e0565eda?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brooklyn Buzz News Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/author\/omgbrooklynbuzz\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Brooklyn Attorney's Wilderness Program Empowering BIPOC Youth - Brooklyn News and Events","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Brooklyn Attorney's Wilderness Program Empowering BIPOC Youth","og_description":"By:\u00a0Brianna Robles Sam Gregory, the founder of\u00a0Brooklyn To Alaska, has spent over 35 years tackling serious cases as a criminal\u00a0defense attorney\u00a0in New York. He witnessed people young and old succumb to their own environment, many of whom lacked adequate resources and a fighting chance of overcoming cycles of crime and trauma. His clients were the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/","og_site_name":"Brooklyn News and Events","article_published_time":"2024-08-14T09:17:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-02-13T14:40:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/brooklyn-to-alaska.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brooklyn Buzz News Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brooklyn Buzz News Staff","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/","url":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/","name":"Brooklyn Attorney's Wilderness Program Empowering BIPOC Youth - Brooklyn News and Events","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/brooklyn-to-alaska.jpg","datePublished":"2024-08-14T09:17:20+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-13T14:40:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/#\/schema\/person\/da9080898e2ce6a46f024597da8da166"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/brooklyn-to-alaska.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/brooklyn-to-alaska.jpg","width":960,"height":640,"caption":"The Brooklyn To Alaska program immerses students in the Alaskan wilderness to learn survival skills and participate in growth exercises. Photo: Supplied\/Brooklyn To Alaska"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-attorneys-wilderness-program-empowering-bipoc-youth\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Brooklyn Attorney’s Wilderness Program Empowering BIPOC Youth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/","name":"Brooklyn News and Events","description":"For What's Buzzin' in Brooklyn","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/#\/schema\/person\/da9080898e2ce6a46f024597da8da166","name":"Brooklyn Buzz News Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a5f050eee775dccede49d98fa5b10566df3cef9bf4eff092dd6f1334e0565eda?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a5f050eee775dccede49d98fa5b10566df3cef9bf4eff092dd6f1334e0565eda?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brooklyn Buzz News Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/author\/omgbrooklynbuzz\/"}]}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5904"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}