On a recent Sunday afternoon, 17 clients and their families met KIND staff and volunteers at Evolution Boulders rock climbing gym in Manassas, Virginia for KIND’s Northern Virginia office’s annual back-to-school event. Evolution Boulders generously gave KIND special discounts on admission and donated prizes for participants. KIND also partnered with Escala Climbing, an organization that aims to create accessibility, expand representation, and increase visibility in climbing for Hispanic and Latine individuals by building community, sharing culture, and mentoring.
To kick things off, clients and their families received a brief introduction to the basics of rock climbing from Escala Climbing instructors. “The folks from Escala Climbing were wonderful and got everyone involved,” said Blanca Castillo, Social Services Coordinator at KIND’s Northern Virgina office who helped plan the event. “They gave introduction lessons to small groups and one-on-one guidance to some kids so they felt supported and comfortable. Having familiar faces from KIND and from the Latino community helped clients dive into the experience and accept the new challenge with an attitude of ‘ok, this is fun, we can do it.’ There was a sense of teamwork.”
Kids were excited to participate in this unique event ahead of the new school year. To round out the party atmosphere, Blanca noted that one of the volunteers from Escala who had rapport with everyone and helped get everyone involved was dancing bachata in between lessons.
“It was so awesome to see our clients in a different light, to see how adventurous they are, and how easily they take to new things even though they are scared,” Blanca shared.
Everyone had a blast and learned to not be afraid to try something new, including making new friends. There were two clients who didn’t know each other and were both scared to start scaling the walls, but they began to talk and buddied up to take on the challenge. Before long, they were rock climbing together in all the quiet parts of the gym. They spotted each other, cheered each other on, and ultimately loved rock climbing. Another client and his brother were having such a good time that they decided to stay at the gym after the event finished. Even the parents got in on the fun as one client’s dad tried rock climbing.
In addition to the rock climbing activities, KIND clients and their families also spent time together enjoying some special treats. Thanks to donations from Wegmans and Giant Landover in Fairfax, there was a beautiful food spread and each client received a $50 gift card for groceries. There were also delicious deserts thanks to KIND partner Cake4kids.
KIND Social Services also added a health care access element to the event. Local health navigators from Young Invincibles had a table where parents could come and set up an appointment to do a screening for Medicaid eligibility. Young Invincibles is partnering with the Virginia Poverty Law Center to help advance and ensure compliance with a recent Virginia law that makes more undocumented children qualify for Medicaid.
A back-to-school highlight was when KIND clients received new backpacks and school supplies donated through KIND’s new partnership with Good360. To conclude the incredible afternoon, there was a raffle, and two kids won five-day punch passes to come back to the climbing gym and other goodies.
At the end of the fun-filled afternoon, some clients expressed excitement about connecting with Escala Climbing to continue rock climbing in the future. Since a key goal of KIND Social Services programming is for clients to connect with each other and other community resources, this was yet another marker of success.
“The event really created a sense of community—the youth and their families, the staff, volunteers, food,” said Elsie Martinez, Social Services Supervisor at KIND’s Northern Virginia office.
