Dr. Nicholas Lamar Wright always planned on recruiting help to make the One Mile Wellness event a success, but he didn’t expect this much.
Early on, Wright asked for help from some of his colleagues at HDI such as Kristen Dahl and Haley Potter. He also recruited staff photographers Eric Seale and Adam Potter to document the event. He didn’t expect Erin Fitzgerald to sign on to perform live music. But it was just one of the ways in which the event served as an opportunity for members of HDI’s community to connect with each other.
The One Mile Wellness event was the latest in a series of events meant to foster wellness and well-being for HDI’s employees. Wright, who works as HDI’s Director of Underserved Populations, planned the event to promote a sense of community among coworkers.
Although HDI has been hosting events like this for a while, this is the first one to have a focus on physical wellness in about five years.
“A great mentor once told me that you can’t pour from an empty cup. With our own work, we’re constantly pouring into other people, and we’re saying yes, giving everything that we can, but eventually, our energy runs dry. At that time, we’re unable to help others or even help ourselves,” Wright said. “So the best way that we can really help others is to help ourselves in that way, make sure that we prioritize ourselves. And this was just one opportunity for us to do that, for us to unplug from technology, for us to enjoy the social life with our colleagues and be able to express ourselves with what brings us joy, what gives us energy.”
Wright considers the event a rousing success. It brought out 41 members of HDI’s team, and those who attended are already excited at the possibility of similar events in the future.
Wright said that if that wasn’t the highest number of people who have ever shown up to an event like this at HDI, it was close.
“We had people that have been working together for three to four years, and they said, ‘I think it’s the first time we’ve met together in person,’” Wright said. “I knew that it was a success because over and over people repeatedly said, ‘When can we do this again?’”
Wright isn’t sure of the exact answer to that question yet, nor does he know what that event will look like, but he knows this won’t be the last time the community gets together.
“We want to make sure that this is something that continues,” he said. “We want to make sure that since we have a spark, we have people that are willing to be involved, we want to make sure to continue that involvement throughout.”
