Finding My Passion, Building ENA

Magdalena pushes her disabled dog Petunia

During my adult life, I have grown such a fondness for walking and exploring. The constant and consistent movement of walking has helped me manage stress and anxiety. Books such as Walking LA, Secret Stairs, Secret Walks, and 10,000 steps in Los Angeles further enhanced my passion.

I’ve had great solo walks connecting with nature and connecting with myself. I’ve also had many wonderful walks with friends of all ages and with various physical abilities. The more I explored, the more I discovered. And soon I began wondering, how precious and refreshing these walks were and if my Latino community knew about them. What about the disability community?

These walks impacted my life positively and I felt compelled and excited to share how wonderful of an experience it can be.

The earliest memory I recall of walking and the difficulty of navigating paths with limited mobility was when my sweet 45-pound English Pointer Petunia became disabled. Fortunately, I was able to get a stroller and managed to include her on my many walks. I was grateful I did not have to leave her behind but found an alternative to include her.

It was at this moment I became aware of mobility issues and of how inadequate several walking paths were. And on top of that aha moment, I began questioning why there was little walking information in Spanish. How can we be inclusive to all? How do I include my twin brother? My twin brother was born with Down Syndrome and as we’ve both gotten older he has been limited with how far he can walk. My brother and I still have so much left to discover together.

In my quest to find answers, ask more questions and make a meaningful impact, I applied as a fellow to America Walks - Walking College. I felt confident and excited to learn from this program and make impactful changes in the Southern California Latino Community. During my time at the Walking College, I learned about transportation issues, walking audits, coalition-building, local public policy, how to follow up with change, and much much more.

My time as a walking fellow helped create my dream of El Nuevo Andar, my final project. I get to work with my soul sister Toni Morales who designed the logo and website. And I got a new wheelchair for my brother Mr. D. so we can continue our adventures and eventually have others join us.

Join our growing #community! With #ENA, we can discover new paths, #audit our neighborhoods, build language-inclusive #walking / #rolling information, and make greater Los Angeles accessible for all!

#Vámonos! Let’s Go!

By Magdalena Morales-Maithalouni