We have a friend that dismisses their bad fortune by shortening the expression “trials and tribulations” to a quick “trials and tribs,” shaking their head during a mechanical, cycling mishap, wardrobe failure, or any other problematic disruption in achieving their goals.
That expression sounds off in my head as we ride the waves of youth programming, and walk beside our youth going through their own ups and downs. It’s a light way for me to blow off steam in moments that are stressful, where our youth experience continued trauma or land themselves in serious situations that will change the course of their lives. There isn’t anything lighthearted about that, but to keep it moving and keep that light at the end of the tunnel, I hear that expression in my head. To me, it implies the return of better times - the balance of the ebb and flow.
Summer flew by, and our time with the team gets reduced substantially as everyone returns to school. With that comes a flip side, our time with the youth at Anna Julia Cooper school ramps up with in-school Elective Cycling and after-school Cycling sessions - four different middle school aged groups of 6-15 youth riding every week. Our AJC Lions crews are special - youth recruited from Mosby, Wickham, Fairfield Court and other public housing locations - riders we wouldn’t necessarily be able to reach with the existing relationships we have built. We won’t see our Lions programming return until Spring semester.
We’re riding a bit of an ebb right now, with our AJC programming wrapping up this week, and our team at large - navigating troubles of their own. We’ve spent months quietly working through time with several of our team that are in legal troubles, with two additional members recently detained or arrested over the weekend. One free from house arrest and granted probation, but two more newly in trouble. This is another wave we ride.
I hear it in my head, “trials and tribs,” to lighten the moment, and refocus on the primary goal: showing up consistently for our youth. An unwavering force. We work through the difficult times and look forward to different rides, rekindling relationships that have gotten too quiet and staying the course with ones still present.
While we work through the tougher stuff, we get to celebrate so many light moments: positive growth with youth, alumni thriving, fun rides, and new relationships built.
We’re in touch with our team members in trouble, and our doing what we can to support them. We’ve met some incredibly resilient young ladies over the last month and will be inviting some of them to join us for continued riding, as part of the team. We’ve met some great boys as part of that programming, and the offer gets extended to them as well. This means growth for us in neighborhoods we haven’t been present in recently, where we will surely meet additional youth in need of enrichment programming. This is the Flow, the regrowth of the wave.
We have so much to celebrate in our community, we have YOU to thank for supporting us and the youth we serve. Your donations fund all aspects of our programming, and they make our work possible. We couldn’t support youth in need the way we do without your help.
We’ll leave you with a bonfire photo we love from the weekend, taken after a night-race that kicked off the Richmond Festival of Cyclocross last Friday. Korey and Joe got out and raced this weekend, and we were so proud to see them finish strong.
Looking forward to future growth of the team.