Meet The Team
(Click To Jump)
As a Veteran firefighter Captain and Paramedic with the Chattanooga Fire Department, Skyler has always been right at home helping people. Currently serving as the EMS coordinator for the Chattanooga Fire Department, he also serves as the coordinator, instructor, and co-author of the Special Needs Awareness Program, where he has trained thousands of first responders how to interact and care for those individuals with special needs involved in an emergency situation. While Skyler enjoys all that he is involved with in the community, his favorite thing is spending time with his family. Skyler has been married to his wife Melissa for over 16 years, and they share two beautiful boys, Noah and Elliott.
Skyler Phillips
Bliss Welch
Always in her signature color pink, Bliss' bubbly personality shines through her brilliant smile. Utilizing her Master's of Accountancy, her days are spent crunching numbers at a lakeside marina. As Ms. Wheelchair America first runner up, former Ms. Wheelchair Tennessee, and current State Coordinator for the Ms. Wheelchair Tennessee organization, Bliss' passion is advocating for individuals with disabilities. Her adventurous side demands she try everything at least once, from adaptive snow skiing to live television. Bliss’ most important moments in life are spent showing the world to her daughter Annabelle.
Shawn Whitfield
(Bio Coming Soon)
Kim Chapman-Whitfield
(Bio Coming Soon)
Avery Black
Avery Black is a 23 year old entrepreneur and Owner of Black River Marketing here in Chattanooga, TN. At a young age he knew he had a passion for business and marketing which led to his decision to start his own practice. From there, he was introduced to several people who have been able to network him to more people, projects and events in the area. He is the most recent addition to our team and has taken a sizeable portion of responsibility within the project. Among many of his hobbies, his favorite is traveling. He was able to fulfill a dream of his by taking a 4 month trip to Eastern Europe accompanied by his wife, Hannah and daughter, Arabella. This experience was a catalyst to his motivation to help others. When presented the opportunity to work on this project, he did not hesitate to step up and help push this thing forward. He plans to work on more projects like this in the future, while also expanding his own business.
Roddey Coe is an impassioned advocate, computer nerd, and most importantly, Dad. Roddey is a Post 9-11 US Army veteran, having served with the 101st Airborne Division. Now, he is known as the husband of Sarah and dad to Melissa and Ethan. Driven by life, he takes pride in providing opportunities for as many people as possible. With his own son's autism diagnosis, Roddey immediately began to realize that opportunities were limited. With the belief that everyone can live an independent life, for the last 10 years, he has devoted his life to creating opportunities for children with disabilities. Since this time, Roddey has served as the Vice President for the Autism Society East Tennessee and is the Vice President of the Chattanooga Autism Center. He also currently serves as a Governor appointed member of the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities and the Tennessee Council on Autism Spectrum Disorders. In partnership with Chattanooga Fire Department Capt Skyler Phillips, Roddey is currently working with state leaders to share the Take Me Home program, a program designed to help police officers better serve the needs of people with disabilities. Roddey has been working with Harvesting Inclusive Play since the committee's inception. As dad to Ethan, Roddey remembers the fears and heartbreak he experienced as the parent of a child with a disability. He hopes that this playground will help to reduce, if not eliminate, that for other parents, while allowing all children to fully enjoy a completely inclusive play experience.