Climbing gyms located in low-income neighborhoods

slim wrote:i don't see why people feel a need to force feed the whole outdoor experience thing to other folks. seems kind of silly.

Our posts probably crossed so you prob didn't see my top 10 list :) Hopefully it's apparent that the idea is not to introduce people to the outdoors. It's to provide indoor bouldering as an activity in their neighborhood.

The motivation is that kids in the inner city have fewer outlets. And my proposition is that bouldering could be a popular alternative to the trouble that lurks around the corner.

James Hicks wrote: that is awesome :)

Worrrd broo we keep it trill in the Bieners hood by week - and mix it up in RI and NH on the weekend.
Wouldnt be possible without our training facility in downtown ghetto paradise
I love the place, and even more the people and friends I have there.

Thumbs up tho to all who just dgaf and climb regardless of income or locale

i've never been to a gym in a nice part of town. the tallest and largest buildings are usually in some area zoned for industrial use and those areas don't have any botique childrens clothing or lululemmon stores. i don't think everyone needs to be exposed to climbing too. people who are drawn to it should try it, the rest can continue playing ball sports.

despite all the attempts most climbers make today to look/act like total dirtbags, climbing has and always will be a wealthy persons leisure sport. even to go bouldering (outdoors at 99.9% of bouldering spots) requires a car, shoes, chalk, pad (optional) and a "guide" of some sort.

Derek Jf wrote:The gym I climb at is in the city, smack in between two projects. owner lets youth/teens climb free on fri nights and has memberships for em for just $15 My local spot in Mass solid crew there

I've been to Carabiners! It's definitely in a not-so-upscale area, and my good friend's dad and brothers live in New Bedford so we went to check it out one day. It was DEAD when we went there and the person running the desk wanted me to spend $25 to boulder and climb using all my own gear, which didn't seem right at all to me. We ended up just bouldering and having a fun time. I'm glad to hear that they have some affordable and accessible options for kids and teens.

My family was broke growing up and I can tell you that one of the more difficult parts of starting as a climber was navigating the economic divide since I couldn't afford gear or pretty much anything else. Fortunately I lived near a lot of decent bouldering that I could easily walk or bike to. Climbers with money went to "real" cliffs in New Hampshire. I am not sure that the Maine Rock Gym has really changed things much.

I like Legion's idea a lot, especially emphasizing the "hanging out" aspect. So many "low-income/minority" climbing outreach programs emphasize the outdoorsy character-building aspects which almost guarantee the kids will participate in climbing very rarely. The question is whether climbing as an activity would make sense to a demographic not accustomed to seeing climbing as a worthwhile pursuit. The current role models/big names are probably not reaching that audience.

My wife started a non-profit in an attempt to provide more opportunity to low income families and "at risk" youth in the Brooklyn community through mentoring programs and scholarships for the competitive youth team. She has been successful in working directly with Title 1 schools in the area to recruit participants. The website is bkbf.org.

If you wanted to talk to her about it I'm sure she would be happy to give you some more insight. All emails that go through the website go directly to her.

Peter Beal wrote:I like Legion's idea a lot, especially emphasizing the "hanging out" aspect. So many "low-income/minority" climbing outreach programs emphasize the outdoorsy character-building aspects which almost guarantee the kids will participate in climbing very rarely. The question is whether climbing as an activity would make sense to a demographic not accustomed to seeing climbing as a worthwhile pursuit. The current role models/big names are probably not reaching that audience.

Peter, thx for those thoughts. I think you got to my core question way better than I did... "The question is whether climbing as an activity would make sense to a demographic not accustomed to seeing climbing as a worthwhile pursuit." So maybe the role models for this particular demographic needs to come from IFSC bouldering comps or the ABS, not the Honnolds, Caldwells, or Sharmas.

Rocco wrote:My wife started a non-profit in an attempt to provide more opportunity to low income families and "at risk" youth in the Brooklyn community through mentoring programs and scholarships for the competitive youth team. She has been successful in working directly with Title 1 schools in the area to recruit participants. The website is bkbf.org.

Rocco, looks like your wife runs a wonderful non-profit! Thx for sharing. Seems the model is to leverage an existing climbing gym and youth team to build mentorship relationships between climbers and under-resourced kids. It's a little different than what I'm thinking, but there's more than one way to skin a cat! Looks like she is impacting a lot of kids. Very cool.

Jacob Smith wrote: Right about the time Kai Lightner and Ashima Shiraishi will be redefining the sport... I don't think anyone really knows where the proliferation of urban climbing gyms is taking us, in ten years ghetto kids could be dominating the entire thing.

I know in some articles I have heard of making it look like Kai Lightner as being low income or something but it isn't true. I know him personally and generally see him at once a week.

Chris Rice wrote:I am the guy in the Pay It Forward thread. Our climbing wall is a part of a multi purpose recreation center (basketball, archery, climbing, karate, volleyball, soccer, etc programs). We are in a town of 2500 population so quite small. The Rec Center is owned by the Village and is run solely by volunteers - and it still has to be subsidized by the general fund of the village (heating and cooling costs are very high in building suitable for climbing walls). It is well worth it for us though for what it does for the towns people and especially children. A climbing gym the way you are describing it is going to be a business decision (or it should be). Like any start up it needs to be approached as such. I don't think the lower income will be an issue as much as the other factors involved in the business aspect of running a climbing gym with the goal of making a profit. On it's own it will be very tough I suspect - as a part of a more overall gym/fitness setting it might become much more feasible. Starting a climbing gym because you love it is a very bad reason - it should be approached as a business decision - which it certainly is. With all that said there is money out there for disadvantaged youth programs that you may be able to tap into. Approaching the local town administration could yield property ready to be developed and if developed in conjunction with the administration might subsidize the cost and furnish the liability insurance as a youth program. I don't know if that has any appeal to you though as it's very different than you you described. If I can be of any help feel free to PM me with any questions or just ask them here. My wife and I have been operating the climbing wall since 1998 - when a few friends and I built it (all volunteers). It was built in 3 phases with Grant Money.

I sent Chris 3 or 4 pairs of shoes that were usable and I would send someone else doing the same thing gear.

Between grants and donations I'd think if you were good at fundraising,not just kickstarter, or actual shmoozing with folks who have money you could pull this off. We all have extra gear, even holds and t-nuts and bolts. Lowes in New Haven CT donated a bunch of material for a boxing gym, even the box stores get into charity.

Could work and could be a great social justice tool. Get kids in there and give them a taste of climbing. For the regular consumer, however, it may be a bit harder to entice people to come if it's not in a very good area.

MJMobes wrote:Between grants and donations I'd think if you were good at fundraising,not just kickstarter, or actual shmoozing with folks who have money you could pull this off. We all have extra gear, even holds and t-nuts and bolts.

Agreed. I believe the climbing community is a generous one. I should take all those shoes out of the bin and give them some time to air out :)