Home is a simple word, but the experience of finding home is personal, complex, and always evolving.
The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters invites people across Wisconsin to join our Finding Home series and explore what it means to find home through the lenses of science, arts, history, literature, and civil discourse.
In every region of the state, people shape their sense of home through cultural expression, ecological knowledge, and community care. Many are also noticing changes in the places they know best, from shifting seasons to new pressures on land, housing, and water. Finding Home programs explore how people respond with creativity, stewardship, and resilience.
At its core, Finding Home brings people with different perspectives together with the goal of deepening understanding and identifying shared values and common ground.
This Finding Home story features Rebecca Schwarz of La Crosse, Director of The Nature Place. Rebecca describes The Nature Place as a “nature-based community center that connects people and nature for the benefit of both.” She believes that spending time outdoors is essential for mental health and well-being, providing “a sense of connection to a world that is so much bigger than you.”
The Nature Place offers a wide range of educational opportunities for community members. As Rebecca puts it, people can learn about “just about anything” because “nature is the basis for everything we have.”
For Rebecca, home is La Crosse: the sweeping bluffs, the rushing river, and the natural beauty that surrounds the city. One of her favorite parts of her work is watching young children connect with nature from an early age. She believes that fostering those connections helps cultivate a lifelong love of nature and inspires future generations to protect and care for the world around them.
