Early Thanksgiving with the Settlement Home
When CrossFit Renew started, our goal was to be more than just a room full of people that lifted heavy things and sweat a lot. As fun as that is, there’s a lot more to life than the workouts we do. We wanted to be a community of people that pushed each other inside of the gym to be better humans outside the gym. In January 2017, we launched a CrossFit program in partnership with a foster home down the road called The Settlement Home. This nonprofit houses approximately 60 girls — from late elementary school to high school — who have come from abusive or neglectful backgrounds. While living at the Settlement Home, the girls have access to programs and resources they’ve never had before — so they may heal and grow and move onward. I wanted to help with that process using a sport that I love. And thus, this program was formed. The goals of the Settlement Home/CrossFit Renew program are to:
- Give them a productive outlet to release energy and frustration.
- Allow them to participate in a sport unlike most things available to them.
- Show them that hard work is valuable and will help them accomplish things they never thought they would be able to do, as well as apply that hard work to their lives outside the box.
- Care for them in a way that is contradictory from what their past tells them; in a way that shows them that they are valuable, talented, strong, and worth caring about.
