Everyone Deserves a Place to Breathe: Parks, Healing, and Community with Molly Morgan

In this episode of The Social Impact Podcast, Bree talks with Molly Morgan, Texas State Director for the Trust for Public Land (TPL), about how parks and green spaces are essential infrastructure for health, equity, and community life. Molly shares her journey from studying studio art and landscape architecture to becoming a community-focused designer and then a statewide leader. She explains that her work centers on community-designed park spaces shaped by residents’ needs and stories, rather than just professional plans.

Molly walks through TPL’s work in Texas, especially in Dallas, including:

• The Five Mile Creek urban greenbelt—an 80-year-old city vision being realized as a trail and park system.
• Turning vacant public lots into small, affordable neighborhood parks.
• Preserving Big Cedar Wilderness, nearly 300 acres of nature inside Dallas city limits.

Throughout the conversation, she highlights the mental and physical health benefits of green spaces, including reduced stress and cortisol levels, improved outcomes for children’s mental health and test scores, mitigation of extreme heat, and even faster recovery after illness. She and Bree also explore temporary and creative solutions, such as pop-up parks, potted plants, painted asphalt, and green alleys, that can quickly bring relief to communities, like fire-impacted schools with no play space.

The episode closes with Molly’s advice for aspiring impact professionals and community members:

• You don’t have to be an “environment person” to help—nonprofits need skills in finance, web, marketing, and operations.
• Small actions, like simply showing up to a local park, can make others feel safer and more welcome.
• Everyone deserves “a place to breathe,” and parks are a powerful way to give that to communities under stress.

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Transcript

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On today's episode of the social impact podcast, we're joined by a leader who is reshaping how Texans connect with the outdoors. Molly Morgan is the Texas State Director of the Trust for Public Land, where she and her team are working to ensure that every Texan has access to health equity and community benefits that come with close to home parks and green spaces. Since joining TPL in 2017 Molly has played a pivotal role in projects like the Five Mile Creek urban Greenbelt plan, the South Oak Cliff Renaissance Park and the Dallas green greening initiative. She's also helped secure major federal funding to expand trails and transform school yards into vibrant public spaces. We had an incredible conversation where we talked about community impact, mental health and so many things. So let's get started. Hi Molly, thank you very much for talking with us today. I know just now when we're doing kind of our pre conversation, I said I have so many questions for you about land banking and all the things being in the current situation that a lot of our listeners or followers now in altitude are working on the fire recovery. So I'm really happy to hear about your work and all the things that you're doing in Texas and all the things so we're going to get there. But I'm just curious, Molly, if you kind of introduce yourself to all of us and share a little bit of how you even got into this work, absolutely Well, excuse me. Thank you for having me. I'm always thrilled to be able to talk about our work, but also to hear what other people are doing make an impact in their communities too. So thank you for what you're doing with this podcast. So I am the Texas State Director for Trust for Public Land, which is a nonprofit, and our mission is to provide the joy and benefits of the outdoors to everyone and to connect more people with nature and parks and open spaces. And how I came into this role, actually. You know, my first degree was in studio art and in art history, and I loved the process of making art, but I wasn't really sure that I was going to do it for other people, so it was kind of an interesting degree to get. I worked in a bunch of creative fields, and have always just loved being outside, and didn't really know enough about the design connection to being outside until I realized I wanted to go back to grad school. I found landscape architecture, and it's what I really decided I wanted to pursue, because I could bring my design background into delivering something for people that could make their lives better, my life better, and bring more people into kind of the spaces that I got to be in that provided good for me and for me that was outdoors. I thought I would be like a therapeutic garden designer. I thought I'd be doing like, you know, kind of traditional garden work. And I fell in love, actually, with community work while I was in grad school. So after that, I really pursued community based projects. And what became my specialty and niche was community design, so working directly with communities to build park spaces and design green spaces that match their needs, and translating the needs of a non design practitioner into a green space that they're going to use every day. I started doing that kind of work, and then worked at TPL to deliver that kind of work, and have been at TPL for over eight years doing that. So I have worked up and into different positions and on different projects, and now I lead our work here, and I'm thinking about how we expand that work. And so that's what keeps me here, too, is delivering those green spaces for others, and just getting to see the joy of bringing more nature to people that need it, especially in the times that we live in where life can be a little stressful. Yeah, just a little just a few things going on in the world to stress people out. Yeah, no, that's fantastic. And I, love your journey of initially you were or you still are an artist, but you were very focused on that, and then we're able to bring it into community work and impact work. We do a school program where we teach students about using their talents and their loves to create a difference in the world. And so what more would you say about that? Because I think in impact industries, it's like, how do you even get into like, doing good work and getting paid for it, right? And how do you use your talents and discover what you're good at and then find a way to make this a career, to help people? You know, that's one of the top questions. I feel like people ask me, especially young professionals too, is I had a career change. I came back into this field after going to grad school. I would say that when I started grad school, and even when I was getting close to ending, I didn't think that jobs like this were out there for people, right? I thought that I would go work at a firm and maybe. If I worked hard enough and I was good enough at what I was doing, that I would occasionally get to work on a project that you know, was really community based, but there would be other things I would be doing. And so I would say that it I mean, those jobs are out there, and sometimes they take persistence to find them. But I think if you are centered on what you know, the good you want to create, and you're open to how that unfolds. You can really find those things and excel and thrive. And I think for me, you know, I don't do as much design work anymore, right? Like I do a lot more management. I do a lot more community, bringing people together and facilitating. But to me, that still tickles my creative side while also creating the impact. And I think that while when I was younger in my career, I might not have been able to make that connection as easily. So I would say like, if you feel like you're doing good, even if it's not the exact vision you started out with yourself with then you're on the right path, and you will find the things and be able to shape, as you grow, the things that deliver that impact, too. I think the other thing is that when I started my career in this I was, you know, designing potential park spaces on, you know, trace paper for council people actually to advocate for more park spaces in a local bond election, more funding to go into a bond election for green spaces. And at that time, I think I didn't, I was newer in this type of work. I didn't know the impact that that that would make, and it, you know, wasn't direct community work. I wasn't hearing somebody's dreams and trying to make it happen at that time. But this year, we actually opened a park that I worked on. Then, Wow, that's great. First thought, what happened? I know so I think you know, if you feel like you're doing good, even if it's not what you think you're going to do, to like to see it through, let it play out, and try to try to let the process take you where it's going to take you. I really love that. And I love when time goes by. You can look back and say, Wow, that project happened. Sometimes we don't take the time to just invest and like, let it be nurtured and then grow and and also, while you were talking, I was thinking too, those that have those kind of, like, hard skills, it's great, like, say you're somebody that's really good at numbers and finance, go into those careers, and then you can come into the impact space with so many skills that impact needs, right? So if you're a creative, like, go work at the studio, you know, do all these things, but then you can bring that into your work later, like you've done. I'm curious why parks, like, what kind of, you know, got you curious? You said that you were working on something with account. Was it a council member? And you're like, I'll just draw a park. Like, what? What happened there? You know, um, parks are like the public expression, I think of a garden, right? Of an outdoor place. And they can take a lot of different a lot of different directions, right? You know? So when I say Park, it could be, and sometimes you don't even refer to them as parks, you know, some community spaces we refer to as greens, or, as you know, pocket parks, community areas. But to me, Park means public and it means a place that everyone can enjoy. So if, even if it's more of an arboretum or it's a neighborhood park, and that's sort of kind of the training that I gravitated to when I was in my educational kind of career is just that, what are the things that in a public space bring people together or serve a neighborhood need and parks, I think are what does that? And one of the things that we work on at Trust for Public Land, that I've been working on, you know, for my career here too, is making sure that everybody in an area has access to a park close to their home, within a 10 minute walk of their home, so that's a distance that somebody can walk to right and also enjoy the space spend time there. And we know that there are benefits to people and to communities by having those spaces in their neighborhoods, and so I loved, even starting when I was at that time, like drawing all these just sample parks on vacant properties in the city of Dallas to see if one was an opportunity was that there's so many different expressions of those park spaces, whether they're big or small, and whether they're a place that you drive to for a festival or you walk to every day in your neighborhood. And so for me, professionally, it never gets boring. But two, you know, it's an endless celebration of the individual, like nature of the space in the community. No, I love that. One of the things that has really been supportive for the Eaton fire recovery is the Dodgers Foundation, right away came in and redid one of our main parks, Loma Alta, and now that's become a space that, excuse me, that people are coming back to to spend time when they're trying to make new memories in the area. They don't have their homes there, but they're able to come back and remember and while they're rebuilding. So I think it's an incredible community resource. I'm curious what it means to have access, or, you know, equitable resource, to a park, because I'm thinking like my mind is thinking, LA, downtown, LA, like most of the schools in downtown LA are cement and the public spaces are like dog parks and things like that. So, you know, in a situation, because I don't know Dallas as well, like, if you can kind of give us a picture of what it would look like in an area that doesn't have access and some and what you would do to come in and and improve that. Yeah. So I think that's one of the really fun things that working at an organization like mine, is that generally a park has green in it, or it's green and it's public and like, it can take any expression beyond that. So in Texas, I have worked on school yards where we have and across the country, we do that kind of work, where really the best kind of space in the neighborhood is your school yard. Anyways, there's this network of infrastructure that we can sometimes bring neighbors more into and improve and, you know, but the also actually, LA, I actually trained in LA at TPL, and there's this really great program they have there that, you know, called the equipo Verde, that is a green alley network, and so working with communities to connect people to their institutions and to each other through this network of making their alleys green. And this dual benefit of it's also a stormwater management component underneath those alleys. So then all of a sudden you have this green connectivity between people areas where people can come together and thrive and get places safely, and then a benefit to the city with the water component. And I think Dallas is different in a lot of ways, because a lot of the vacant space we're looking at is already green, but it needs to be cleaned up for things like public safety, like fire protection, like sight lines, and be made places that communities feel safe using. That's a lot of what I'm working on here. But back to all of it. I think the like the through line is that, from an equity perspective, people can thrive more when they have green spaces in their neighborhood, and it can be just as simple as getting outside for 20 minutes a day. And it doesn't, you know, there's tons of benefits to running, jogging, whatever you like to do climbing, skating, but really, even just sitting outside in nature for 20 minutes a day, or even looking at nature for 20 minutes a day can reduce your cortisol levels, and it can make you less stressed. And then we also know that parks and these type of public green spaces bring people together, and after covid, in isolation, the Surgeon General said isolation can be the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day for your health. And so providing people a place, whether it's smiling at somebody that's walking on the trail, or waving at a parent who is playing with their kid, also there's the opportunity for that kind of just human interaction. It can be as deep or not as as needed, but everyone benefits from it. And then there's even statistics about, you know, like kids mental health benefits of just having a green space in your neighborhood can have a, you know, statistical reduction in mental health incidences in adulthood, in childhood, and I'm going on and on, because I believe in it in Texas, heat is a big issue. And the more concrete there is, the more urban heat island effect there is, which means the ambient air is hotter, which means that cardio vascular illnesses are exacerbated. And that is like one of the big health concerns here in Texas right now is how our health is impacted by heat waves and by these kind of incidences in neighborhoods and green space, you know, helps address all that in communities. And so whether it's a schoolyard or a traditional park or more street trees or like the green alleyways, adding green is good, and giving people that access can really make an impact on people's lives that I don't think we always connect to, right? We just experience it sometimes, and we don't stop and think like how important it is. Yeah, absolutely. So I'm thinking about my daughter's school Odyssey. So they lost their school in the fire and were graciously taken in by several organizations in Pasadena all last year, and now they have a new space back in the burn zone, and it's a good. Building, however, zero play space, zero green space. It's a parking lot. So I've been brainstorming, okay, what do you do when you have a parking lot and it's an immediate need for the mental health of these kiddos that just went through a fire? What would you suggest? I mean, is there like interim green spaces that you can create that support kind of the situation you totally can. And actually, that's something we do. It's a tool we use in community engagement a lot. Is a lot of times we're working on vacant lots or areas where people can't see the arc, like they see a problem site, or they see like something that's really overgrown, and think, how could this possibly be a space we're going to come in and use? Or they see something with a lot of concrete, or ask, concrete or asphalt that say No way. And we work with a really great organization here that works across the country. They're called Better Block. And for us, they do all kinds of things. But for us, they in our community engagement process, they bring temporary Park furniture out, like pop up furniture, and in a lot of cases, they can gift those to communities if they're working with the community. For us, we take it to a lot of places. We kind of clean up the site. We do like a mini kind of park design, and we use that to gage what people want forever on the site, to like, compare site plans, and really also just get people comfortable there. We throw kind of a party that day to like a picnic, and we have a DJ and all kinds of fun stuff. But you can totally do temporary stuff that can be really impactful sometimes, just even, like potted plants too. And in the perimeter can be really great in a learning opportunity for kids, right? And then, you know, there, we've done all these the school yard work in New York City, where same thing. There's so much kind of asphalt and concrete, and they've come up with some really great ways to identify some areas of that concrete that could be removed for turf, and then water capture underneath and resurfacing that concrete so it's a usable surface, like a track, or using an artist to really activate it in the interim or long term, to make it fun for kids. And I think also, like thinking about trees don't have to be like it. They're great if you're underneath them. But also they provide a benefit around and so, like, even around a green space, even if it's not providing shade right where you are, a lot of them can lower the air temperature around it, which helps with, like that reflectivity and the micro climate, and so there are a lot of things, and I think that's a really important point too. Is everything can start somewhere, right? But does it have to be a ginormous project for people to enjoy it? Yeah, I really like that idea, especially because it can create kind of a space where they're not seeing so much of what's going on around then, like construction, which is a very good sign right now, by the way, I have lots of questions, and some of them are probably going to sound so silly because I've just been asking everyone, and I still don't get it. But if you don't mind sharing a little more about what land trusts are in general, and land banking and, like, just the 101, of it all. But the more I learn, the more I'm like, wow, this is incredible for communities. I just don't fully get it. If you don't mind sharing a little bit about that, you're good. I also, I'll give you what I know too. But as my background is landscape architect on the capital side. That's a expertise in TPL that we have, and really important. But I think Texas works differently than a lot of other places too. So a land trust operates like they own land in many cases, or own easements on land to take care of it and protect it for a certain reason. So something that we do a lot is conservation easements land banks buy up property to hold those the ownership structure can be different in every community, whether it is a group of people, group of individuals, a group of businesses or associations can own that land together and make decisions based on it. Land banking can be for a lot of different purposes, right? So whether it's housing or green space, the important thing about land banking and working with like a community land trust on some of this is that the people who need to or want the outcome, are engaged in that outcome, as opposed to advocating for an outcome when you don't own the space, right, and you're limited maybe to, maybe this is complicated, but to what the zoning allows, or what the you know a developer wants, and you know we love it when we have great developers, but sometimes you you don't have the same vision. It's great if you can come together. But any way that communities or people thinking about things can have more stake in the final decision making, I think the better, especially when you guys are thinking about kind of green space networks and. At trust Republican in Texas, we actually try our best not to hold land anymore, but our job as a nonprofit is to identify where land should or could be public and manage that process, the real estate process of it, and then transfer it to a public agency who has the same outcome and vision, right? So for us, that's it's going to be a public park, or it's going to be public and have Park access, it's going to have people, amenities and things, and so that's really how we work, is helping communities identify, you know, where is this opportunity? What is this opportunity, and what does that actual real estate kind of transaction look like, to make it happen. And then, who is the the final takeout, is it like a state agency? Maybe in this case, it's like a land it's a land trust. Maybe it is a community group who has put together, you know, some, some, some policies for you all to come together, a structure for you all to come together and own something together, and, you know, so there's a lot of there's a lot of ways that it happens. Yeah, that's really helpful. And I mean, I think the more conversations I'm having, the more I'm understanding. And so I'm like, Okay, I think I'm tracking with you. The things that are happening here in Altadena is we're a very tight community, and the goal of the community is that everyone comes back that wants to come back, but that's challenging because we have insurance issues. We have people that were there for decades and their house was paid off. I mean, so many different we have, like, historical challenges. So there's an organization I want to give them a shout out. They're called Green Line housing, led by an ED named Jasmine, and she's doing land banking, and the hope, you know, is to get altadeanians back, so maybe they were renters and lost their rental and then now they can become owners, you know, just things like that. So I think it's a really, I'm learning a lot about it, and I think it's an incredible thing. And also I think we could use, I'm thinking of like, Are there any lots for sale around the school that we could bank and use for, you know, green space and all that? So thinking creatively, I'm definitely going to connect you with our LA office. Amazing. I love that. I mean, that's the, I think that's like, the a great example and inspiration for other people listening to this about organizing is a nonprofit or forming a group that can help you as a community, be the drivers of change, right? And that's really what a land bank does, is like you get to decide the needs as your group, as the people who live there, the experts, and then make that happen. And that's a mechanism, a really good mechanism to do it. So yeah, I'll definitely connect after but I want to learn a little bit more too. Yeah, amazing. So speaking of your current work, I know we've we've touched on it throughout the conversation, but I know that your organization has some big goals. So I'd love to dive into that, what initiatives you all are working on, how you make it happen within the community that you're in, and all of that, all of a sudden stuff, yeah, well, I first, you know, I'm really lucky that I've gotten to work at trust Republican for eight years, and so I've worked in a lot of positions, which helps figure out how to get things done, I would say. But we have three, you know, we have, we have a big initiative going on in Dallas right now is something that we're taking learning lessons from to for the rest of the state. But it's called greener Dallas, Greater Dallas, and it's a program that combines all of our current work in the city with this goal of connecting nearly a quarter million people to a park trailer green space. I don't have one right now, or a safe one, and we do that through a variety of ways. So we have a program called Five Mile Creek that is looking at a creek corridor that was actually a plan. It was in the city plans over 80 years ago. It's never implemented, and it is one of the most beautiful corridors in Dallas. It's a great opportunity for this park and trail system. So it's an 80 year old vision that we picked up in 2018 to work on. And so we're working on the trail, funding for it, and we're building three large parks in the corridor. We've already built the first two, and we're working on the third. And so that's that's a big vision area. And then another project we're working on to bring more green spaces to people, is working on city owned already public, vacant lots that are not appropriate for housing, right? They might have a water utility purpose, or they might be like a corner of a lot on the library and looking and saying, these could have better access. They could have things that make, you know, they could be a benefit to communities, and they don't have to change, you know, the the final use of them. Um, but how can we make those quickly and affordably into spaces for community? And so we just broke ground on our first yay, yeah, and we're building 15 of those in five years, and we have all the designs done for the first five with the communities that we work in. We also form friends of groups, volunteer groups, and support them to support their local spaces and work with the public agency. And then the last of our big projects in Dallas or initiatives in Dallas that we we also do this work across the state, not just in Dallas, is looking at areas like we're talking about, land bank like, areas that are not public, that are really great for a green space. And so in saving those for the public. And so last year, we or two years ago, we saved a property called big cedar wilderness, which is nearly 300 acres in the city limits. It was an existing mountain biking property. And we're doing a master plan there. And then we're always looking for properties like that, either bigger or smaller, that could be provide a real environmental education, health and wellness, green space opportunity. And so we're, you know, those are the three big initiatives we are working on to deliver all that work, and for me as a mother, you know, that will serve over 70,000 children who don't have a green space near them, and so I think that that's why it's important. And I think for getting stuff done, it's great to work at a nonprofit, or that allows you to be flexible, right? Like, I've got colleagues in New York who are doing these incredible school yards projects, and we worked on schoolyards here too, but what they're working on there is really specific to their market. And in Texas, we had to think a little bit differently to deliver our mission here. But the important thing is, we're all delivering the same mission just slightly different ways across the country, and so we just make that happen however you need to bread and butter is making sure that communities are engaged in the process the entire time, from start to finish, from decision making to dictating design to being a part of conversations around budgets, democratic budgeting, making sure that phasing matches their needs and desires. Because at the end of the day, people can't use the benefit of a park space if they're not going to use it, if they don't see themselves in it. And so that's what I spent the bulk of my career doing at TPL, and what I love about what we do, yeah, that's incredible, and that's impact work right there. If you can't make things happen, then it's probably not for you. You know, you just got to get creative. And that's why I always tell people like, you have to be an innovator and think, you know, be able to pivot and creatively. And if you think, if you think you're not creative because you're doing systems, no, you are definitely creative because I'm actually most creative because you have to really figure it out, but that's fantastic, and I love the creek space that was my young years. We lived in the mountains for a few years, right by a little creek, and I would take my Barbies down in Tupperware and float them down the creek, and I would spend all my days doing that as like an only child. My siblings are a lot older, so that is like Creek speaks my language. I mean, anything that kids can just be kids, right? Because there's so many places, like big cities, that we as parents maybe don't feel great about just letting them run. So if it's in a controlled way, but it feels free, I think that's so incredible. Yeah, you know, we're working on this project right now. That's in that system, right? But it's a large part parcel too, and we've been doing community engagement there. I'm really excited about it, because it's a very kind of forested property. It's got this creek on it. It's got all these amazing things. But working with the community, actually, it's so big, they identified this place that they all went to as kids. Oh, wow, waterfall on site, really, back in there. And so it's so fun to hear those stories, and to be able to kind of unearth that activity and bring that to life again for the next generation of people. And to your point, too, from your first question about, like, getting into the field, I think you have to think about everything you're doing. You have to remind yourself that everything you're doing has impact. And like, sometimes that looks like getting a contract signed right, doing a request for a proposal, stuff that you think today, man, I'm not seeing the impact. I am. My task list is super long, and the last thing I want to do is be reviewing a contract to document for an environment, you know, something that is. Still just a small piece of this bigger thing, but at the end of the day, like all those things, make projects happen, and you got to be pretty dedicated to absolutely, yes, absolutely and celebrate the wins, right? Yeah. So I love that great advice, and it just makes me want to go play in some like splash area with my kids right now. But, um, okay, so anything else that you're like, people need to know this. And then we're going to get into some rapid fire questions that we ask everyone, but just some top of mind things that you want to make sure we all know, you know, I think just to the schoolyards point earlier that you were talking about, I think something that I hear a lot is people think green spaces are like, they're something beautiful, but they're and they're not a need, right? They're, they're just, they're a want, or they're an extra, they're not a priority, but like, there are real benefits, and I know I've already talked about that, but even for schoolyards, like having a park and green space kids can use actually, like, can reduce ADHD symptoms on paper, like it's not just an anecdotal kind of piece, and improve test scores. And so, you know, people get out of the hospital faster, recover faster when it can see a green space. And so it's not just a mindful thing to bring into each of our lives. It's to remember that, you know, even if it feels good and it's, you know, fun for us to do, it still has a real benefit. Yes, that's super important. Thank you for sharing that. Okay, so our rapid fire questions are and we just, you know, it's fun to ask the same questions for all these different impact professionals and see what you all come up with. So the first one is, what motivates you to create social change? I mean, we were just kind of alluding to it, can we can have some hard days, right? So, so why keep doing it? Why do you keep going? Yeah, I feel like I already gave some of this, but really, honestly, I mean, I've gotten to the benefit of it from working, you know, doing this work for some time. But really, I, you know, I had my daughter over just over three years ago, and my first, first baby, new mom, thought it was going to come supernaturally, but I was stressed. I had the baby blues. I was overwhelmed. And I think you can Well, I think you can relate to that, even if you're not a new parent, right? A life change or something is happening, a stressful life. But my husband and I actually were talking about it one day, and I was overwhelmed, and he said, You still love you know, just getting outside or going in the garden when you were stressed, why don't you guys take a walk? And it's such a reminder to practice what you preach, right? Yeah, but so every day we started small, we would just go outside, and then that turned to a walk to our park, and it's something we still do. And you know, when times are stressful, the list is long, and the laundry, you can't find the sock that matches. Wait, does that ever happen? By the way? No, we go outside, and I it made such a world of difference for me, especially at that time where I was experiencing a really different mental health time and more. And everyone deserves that. Everyone deserves to have a place where they can breathe right, where they can refresh, where you can let the list go, and so that you know that even though I'd worked in the space it was, it changed my perspective, again, on how important it is, and especially in communities that don't have a green space interface facing even more pressures or extra stresses than I am, I am reminded that what I can do in my profession is help provide something that can give them that break. And so that's what keeps me going and keeps, you know, me thinking in our work, how do we deliver some of this stuff faster? How do we do things differently? And then I get to hear the stories, you know, I tell that story, and I get to hear a million other people tell me same stories, whether it's in my work or others about something that also is what kind of keeps me going and motivated. Yeah, very good. What are your well being tips? I think it probably goes along the same. Get outside, right? But what are your words for it outside? But I do like to tell people like, and this goes back to my experience too. Is like, make it fun for you. Like, don't put pressure on yourself. Start small, if that feels right. You know, I think that I have a tendency as a doer to be like, I'm going to start doing something that I haven't done in five years, and it's going to come back. But like I said, just sitting outside and just walking in just, you know, my one of my favorite activities. Is picnicking. I love to picnic at our local like Lake and park. And so you know to remember that the benefit you get from a mental health perspective, if you're not talking physical health, you can get from just going outside. So whatever makes you happy to start that practice, is my tip, if you're open to it. And my other tip about that is, if you're, if you're in a hot climate like me, and you're like, I don't like bugs in the summer, is to switch from a bug spray to a bug lotion, because, oh, they're not as sticky and they don't smell I'm in a mosquito climate. So yeah, for me, I yeah, I appreciate that we have horrible mosquitoes, believe it or not, in Los Angeles, like it's terrible. So I love that. Yeah, we switched to, I mean, I have a lotion from, I think it was on a trip in Costa Rica, where I was younger, and, you know, just so much more pleasant for me when it's bug season. But okay, you'll have to email me that product that you because I, I have sensitive skin, and I have a random question, because you did bring up bugs. And the first thing I thought was, Are there alligators in your lakes in Texas? Is that a silly question? It's not a silly question occasionally, but not in this particular lake. This is a okay, because I was like, I don't want to unexpected guest, and definitely in some other like larger lakes. But actually, all the lakes in house are man made, and so sometimes there's wildlife up there. There's obviously fish and stuff. But no, yeah, I lived in Florida as a kid for a few years, and we'd have for sure, yeah, we'd have to check under the cars before we went out. I mean, I It's not funny. I'm a West Coast girl, so it's kind of, I mean, it's interesting. Actually, this is a dual purpose, like water reservoir, so you're actually, you don't swim in it. You can non motorized boat or, like, paddle boards, pretty. It's beautiful. We're kind of picnic blanket picnic people, so like we're enjoying it. I love it. And alligator freight. And then the last one is, how can those of us that are listening to your tips, how can we make an impact? Because, you know, there's different our audiences is full of impact professionals, people that want to go into the impact fields, and then people that are like, Hey, I just really care about my community. So what would you say? Something you said earlier really struck me, because being at a nonprofit, this is something we talk to people about a lot, is like, I think that it's important to think about what impact you want to make and how you want to make it. Because at a nonprofit, right? I have a board of people who help us, help us out, and there are people with real estate experience with accounting, experience with business structure, experience with marketing experience, right? And so you just because you if you wanted to get involved in a green space organization or something, doesn't mean you have to be a landscape architect. It doesn't mean you have to be an environmentalist or an ecologist. We at nonprofits and people who are trying to put together pieces to make change need partners in all kinds of fields, and that goes across the board at every kind of organization, right? And so, you know, I think if you are that kind of person who is looking for an opportunity to step in somewhere and help, but maybe it's not your full time career that to remember that we need help. And oftentimes we're not. We're great at asking for help about the top three things, but not everybody knows your skill set. So if you're an incredible website builder, and you say you want to volunteer, and the only volunteer opportunity that comes up for with me is planting trees, but if I had known that skill about you, maybe we could have talked about something differently. So I think, don't be afraid to pitch yourself. Don't be afraid to afraid to say, I can help in this way, and I love your mission, and I or and I want to do X, Y and Z, or I could help you think about X, Y and Z, and I guarantee you no one will say, No, right? They might say, we don't know right now how to make that happen, but let's keep talking, and then maybe that evolves into something else. And I think the other thing for people is to recognize that small impact does make a really big impact. I feel like I'm talking about that a lot, but like, you know, just for me, if you go to your local park, right, just take a walk there, or sit and read a book you're you might be making somebody else feel more comfortable to be there that wants to be there. Maybe there's a young mom or parent who's there alone with a stroller and is a little nervous about being somewhere in public and navigating that. Maybe there's somebody who's worried that maybe they have an injury and they're not super comfortable being somewhere where they're alone, places that are populated by people make people feel self safer and. Are welcoming and welcomed. And so even if what you're doing is is seemingly small to you, you could be making an impact for somebody else. And so to give yourself the grace and the encouragement to recognize the good in all little things, yeah, I think that advice is fantastic, especially, I mean, both sides are so good. I'm thinking of what you're talking about with. You know, nonprofit will not say no. I mean, so often nonprofits are asking, obviously, for funds and things like that. But if, if you can give of your talents, that's incredible and a huge value to nonprofits, absolutely. Yeah. So thank Yeah, and spreading the word, I mean, like a social media post, Yeah, huge. So, huge. So, well, Molly, thank you so much. I just really enjoyed our conversation, and I think it was helpful. You know, in community work, where, where we all live in communities. That's one thing we all have in common. And so this is such a great way to increase connection too. I mean, people meet at parks, people you know, have playdates at parks. It's a great way to connect as well. So thank you so much, Molly. Thank you for what you're doing, and thank you for chatting today. I love talking about this kind of work, and I love hearing about it. So again, thank you. Thank you for joining us today on the social impact podcast. We hope that you found the conversation meaningful and helpful. We would love a review if you'd like to share it, and also, don't forget to subscribe so that you don't miss a podcast. Also, this is brought to you by the social impact firm, where we work with organizations on their good for the world projects. 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