GirlTREK's Walk for Healing, Joy, and Justice Arrives in Norwalk

Join GirlTREK, the Norwalk Bike/Walk Commission, the Norwalk River Valley Trail, the Norwalk Health Department, the Norwalk Art Space, and local partners for a free community walk and conversation centering Black Women’s wellness, mental health, and our right to safe, beautiful public spaces. This is a space created with and for Black Women, and everyone who loves and supports us is welcome. 

• Date: Saturday, June 6, 2026 (rain or shine)
• Time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. (arrive starting at 9:30 a.m.)
• Location: The Norwalk Art Space, 455 West Ave, Norwalk, CT 06850, and the Norwalk River Valley Trail between Mathews Park and Oyster Shell Park
• Cost: Free – registration requested
• Hosts: GirlTREK and the Norwalk Bike/Walk Commission

• A joyous, no-drop community walk on the Norwalk River Valley Trail, with “loop & scoop” volunteers to ensure no one gets left behind.
• A grounding of GirlTREK’s mission to unleash a movement of Black women walking in the tradition of our foremothers to heal our bodies, our communities, and our streets.
• A panel conversation with local Black leaders on walking as mental health care, spiritual practice, and a way to reclaim public space. Plus how Norwalk’s growing trail and street network is making it safer to walk and roll.
• Time to connect over light refreshments, learn about resources, and sign up for the new Norwalk GirlTREK crew and other local opportunities.

Bring your sisters, daughters, neighbors, church family, coworkers, and walking shoes. Come as you are, strollers, comfy clothes, and joy are encouraged.

Let’s make this event powerful from the moment you set out! Choose what works for you, take public transit, walk, or bike for a healthy, sustainable start. The Norwalk Art Space is easy to reach by bus or train. Norwalk Transit District WHEELS buses and local train stations connect you from anywhere in the city. Check schedules for the best route. 

• Live nearby? Walking or biking, especially along the Norwalk River Valley Trail, is a great way to join in and get moving.
• Driving? Limited parking is available at Mathews Park nearby. Allow a few extra minutes to park and stroll over.
• Need extra help? Wheels2U is a low-cost, accessible shuttle, just download the app and book a ride. 

If you need any further accessibility assistance please reach out to [email protected] and we will do our best to accommodate your request. 

GirlTREK is the largest public health nonprofit and movement for Black women and girls in the United States, organizing one million Black women to walk in their own neighborhoods as a healing tradition and a strategy for health, joy, and justice. Grounded in the legacy of Black women freedom fighters, GirlTREK calls Black women to take 30-minute walks as acts of radical self-care and community transformation.

As Black women organize walking crews, they also build sisterhood, address intergenerational trauma, and mobilize to demand safer streets, better parks, and healthier neighborhoods.

The Norwalk Bike/Walk Commission promotes bicycling and walking as safe, accessible, and sustainable modes of transportation and recreation that improve health, equity, and quality of life in our city. The Commission advances Complete Streets, advises on trails and street projects, and supports community education so that everyone in Norwalk can move safely, especially in historically underserved neighborhoods.

GirlTREK’s work to reclaim streets as places where Black women can walk, breathe, and be safe directly connects with Norwalk’s efforts to build a connected, people-centered network of trails, sidewalks, and bikeways. Walking together along the Norwalk River Valley Trail, we are not just exercising; we are embodying a shared vision of streets and greenways that support Black women’s mental, physical, and spiritual health.

This event highlights:

• Walking as preventive health care and a powerful response to the disproportionate health burdens Black women face.
• Walking as a spiritual practice and ancestral tradition, using movement, riverfront green space, and shared stories to ground and heal.
• Walking as reclaiming public space, and how Norwalk’s trail projects and Complete Streets work are expanding safe, welcoming routes for all.

• 9:30 — 9:45 am | Arrival at The Norwalk Art Space
• 9:45 — 10:45 am | Community walk on the Norwalk River Valley Trail (Mathews Park to Oyster Shell Park and back), with safety tips and a brief introduction to the trail’s history and future.
• 10:45 am | Victory Bridge moment and group photo on The Norwalk Art Space front steps
• 11:00 — 11:15 am | GirlTREK mission and vision: remarks by East Coast Regional Manager Siobhan Ollivierre and local GirlTREK leaders
• 11:15 am — 12pm | Panel conversation and audience Q&A, followed by light refreshments, open conversation, and on-site registration for the Norwalk GirlTREK crew and partner programs.
• FIN | Opportunity to stay, chat, eat and mingle, learn more about GirlTREK, NBW, NRVT and get involved!

Our panel will draw connections between:

• Mental health and movement: how walking supports stress relief, anxiety and depression management, and everyday resilience for Black women.
• Spiritual healing: walking as prayer, meditation, and a way to reconnect to our bodies, histories, and each other.
• Reclaiming public space: what it looks like to design and demand streets, trails, and parks where Black women feel safe, seen, and centered.
• Norwalk’s infrastructure: how projects like the Norwalk River Valley Trail and other Bike/Walk initiatives are expanding safe walking and rolling options across the city.

(Panelists to include local Black women leaders in community organizing, mental health, and city government, alongside a GirlTREK representative.)

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Norwalk Art Space, 455 West Avenue, Norwalk, United States

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