Creating Community on the Fitness Court: Q&A with Veterans Bridge Home

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1.      Describe Veterans Bridge Home’s mission and why it’s such a special place

Veterans Bridge Home is a community-based nonprofit created to ensure service members, veterans and their families thrive in the communities where they choose to live after military service. We do this by connecting them to the best careers, human services, and friends where they live based on what they want/need. What makes VBH special is our perspective on this work. We believe that when a community welcomes and rapidly integrates a veteran family into a new career and a new community, we are both helping those families and improving our community because we know that a service member who was successful in the military will be successful in the civilian world if we help them get their footing.

2.     How did you hear about the National Fitness Campaign ? How did Veterans Bridge Home get involved in the project?

In 2019, Lowe’s and the Carolina Panthers asked us to share some ideas about how our three organizations could work together on a community Veterans Day event. We pitched a few ideas, but the one they really loved was the creation of a Fitness Court. The Panthers and the NFL’s Play 60 Campaign have built some great youth playgrounds in Charlotte, but there wasn’t anything similar for adults. Once Lowe’s and the Panthers committed to the project, together we did some research and found the National Fitness Campaign. We knew these Fitness Courts were the perfect fit for our concept. Next, we needed a location, and we knew that Veterans Memorial Park in Charlotte had some flat space that could be a perfect location. Thanks to the great team at Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation, the process of getting permission to install the facility in the park was very easy and the project came to life. This project is a great example of how our organization works through community partners to accomplish big goals. Lowe’s and the Carolina Panthers wanted to do something impactful in the community to honor the service of veterans, we knew that there was a need for a place where veterans and supporters could meet for our weekly workout, and Mecklenburg County had the space to host the Fitness cCourt. Every organization contributed their expertise and together we created a community asset that everyone, regardless of their connection to the military, can use.

3.     How does the Fitness Court fit into the larger VBH mission to provide an inclusive space for active duty, veterans and community members to stay active and healthy?

Physical fitness is a big part of military service regardless of the branch in which you served. Fitness is also an easy habit to get out of once you leave the military. Since 2014, Veterans Bridge Home has been leading a workout on Wednesdays for service members, veterans, their families, and non-veterans who want to sweat with us. Until the Fitness Court was built, that workout was held in the parking lot of our old office. The purpose of the workout has always been two-fold: 1) rekindle the bonds of friendship forged in our military service by offering a familiar routine to those veterans who have moved here; 2) help these same people stay active with a fun, peer-led weekly workout. Through experience we know that what starts as someone just wanting a place to connect to other veterans can create the opportunity where a veteran can feel comfortable asking for help. This simple weekly workout has led to us helping veterans experiencing homelessness, food insecurity, grief, and unemployment. But none of those individuals would have asked for help as quickly as they did without the friendships they had created through these workouts.

4.     What programming (current/future) do you have planned at the Fitness Court?

We have a standing 0600hrs workout at our Fitness Court regardless of the temperature. We typically start the workouts with a short jog around the Fitness Court. We then stretch and do warm up calisthenics on the turf field. Once everyone is warmed up, we use the stations or some of the stations to get 30-35 minutes of a strength and core workout in before we circle up and conclude the morning. There is a core group of participants who have been coming for years, several who come when they can, and a constant trickle of new folks who join us until they find their regular workout routine close to home or work.

Beyond our weekly workout, it has been great to see are the other groups who are also using the Fitness Court. There is a men’s F3 work out there on Friday mornings, we have shared space with a yoga class held there, and individuals from the adjacent apartments are also frequent users of this great public amenity.

5.     What is your favorite thing about the Fitness Court?

I love the fact that the stations are numbered and there are suggestions for three different types of exercises at each station for any level of fitness. We typically have a volunteer lead the workout, but with the stations set up the way they are anyone can lead the workout even if you have never led a workout.

6.     Any final thoughts you’d like to share with us?

If you are in the Charlotte, NC area, please join us on Wednesdays from 0600-0645hrs! You don’t have to be a veteran and you don’t have to be in shape to join us. We promise not to count your push-ups, but you can always count on us to be there.

Watch the special WCNC News story on the connection these veterans are building on the Fitness Court.