Our Foundation works to protect wild Florida and values the diverse experiences people bring to outdoor spaces. During Black History Month, we are highlighting Black voices who experience, document, and share Florida’s outdoors in meaningful ways. From behind the camera to out on the water with family, these stories reflect the many ways Black Floridians connect with nature and why representation in outdoor spaces matters.
Meet Nancy Frias. Her story is one of nature providing healing, belonging, and legacy.Â
Born in Miami Beach to Haitian immigrant parents, Nancy spent hours outside with neighborhood friends and many weekends at the beach. An early camping experience through her church deepened that outdoor connection, planting the seeds for a lifelong love of nature.
But it was a trip to Haiti that transformed how she understood the outdoors and its deeper connection to culture and tradition.
“I remember being out on the water with fishermen, watching them pull fresh conch shells from the sea and grill them right there on a wooden boat,” Nancy recalled. “Seeing food harvested, prepared, and cooked outdoors, everything made from scratch, taught me how deeply nature and tradition can be connected.”
Years later, Nancy went fishing for the first time herself. From there, her passion for wild Florida began to grow.
Through learning by trial and error and making connections along the way, Nancy built her own relationship with Florida’s natural spaces. While navigating anxiety and difficult emotional seasons, she found healing through time in nature, discovering a sense of peace she hadn’t experienced elsewhere. “I realized that even when I was physically alone outdoors, I never truly felt alone,” Nancy said. 
As Nancy entered motherhood, it felt natural to bring her love of the outdoors with her. She is raising her children, Major, 10, Olivia, 5, and Omega, 3, to feel confident in spaces she once had to grow into herself. Today, she documents her family’s outdoor adventures on Instagram (@wildheartsinnature). From bass fishing on lakes in Kissimmee and python hunting in the Everglades to paddleboarding in the Florida Keys and duck hunting alongside her son, Major. Nancy approaches motherhood through time spent outdoors.
By sharing her family’s experiences online, Nancy wants to encourage other families to step outside as well. She says many people have reached out asking her to take them fishing or camping, sometimes with hesitation because of wildlife. “And I always laugh, because I tell them the animals are usually more scared of us than we are of them!”
At its core, Nancy hopes her content sends a simple message: nature doesn’t belong to just one group. “Representation means possibility,” Nancy said. “It means my children can look at a photo or a video and see someone who looks like them fishing, camping, exploring, and loving nature and know that space belongs to them too.” 
Perhaps an homage to her pivotal experience in Haiti, Nancy and her family love sustainably harvesting their own food from wild Florida. They experiment with recipes using invasive bullseye snakehead fish, create desserts with fresh picked strawberries, and grill duck over an open flame after a long day of hunting. “Cooking this way is more than making food,” said Nancy. “It’s teaching my children where meals come from, how to be resourceful, and how to enjoy the process.”
Moments like these are a regular part of life for Nancy and her family. Their time spent outdoors in wild Florida is more than a lifestyle, it’s part of her legacy. “I want to be remembered long after I’m gone as someone who lived fully, loved deeply, and raised children who are connected to the earth, to adventure, and to joy,” said Nancy.
