Brunswick Rocks
Brunswick, Georgia
Specs: On January 1st, 2024, Brunswick Rocks opened in the coastal Georgia city of Brunswick as a nonprofit bouldering gym. Gym Co-Owner Jared DiVincent’s motivation to start the gym was initially inspired by Memphis Rox—a nonprofit climbing gym in Soulsville, Tennessee—and he began working on the project in 2022. He and co-owner Michael Gowen “always had a passion for climbing” but had limited options in their town, until “an opportunity came about,” DiVincent said. A friend of Gowen’s purchased a building in downtown Brunswick and offered him the space. Soon after, Gowen and DiVincent decided to open the gym and make it a youth-focused 501c3 nonprofit.
“The reason we wanted to do that is because if you look at the demographics of Soulsville, Memphis, and you look at the demographics in Brunswick, Georgia, they’re almost exactly the same,” DiVincent explained. “We have almost the same amount of poverty. Our demographic profile, as far as African American, Caucasian, Spanish, is almost the same, and the population is almost the same.” After observing “what a great thing Memphis Rox was for that community to bring it together, to give everyone equal opportunities for health, fitness,” DiVincent and Gowen decided a climbing gym in their city would be a great platform for folks to overcome obstacles in life. “We like to say it’s more like we opened a community center disguised as a rock climbing gym,” he added.
Brunswick Rocks is focused on youth, but DiVincent noted people of all ages can benefit from the gym’s services. “We offer up memberships to anyone, regardless of their ability to afford it,” he said. “We receive an application from the family or youth in need that wants a membership, and they can either volunteer 10 hours a month with us or one of our partner nonprofits.” Some partner nonprofits include the YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, and communities and schools. “We’re teaching them to be invested in their community. Nothing comes for free. If we all help each other, we’re all better off.”
Another way the Brunswick Rocks community aims to help each other is through “angel memberships”, which allow members at the gym to gift a membership to a family in need. Additionally, the gym offers a community closet, inspired by similar programs at Memphis Rox, which is “fully stocked with clean underwear, dental hygiene products, feminine hygiene products, non-perishable goods and snacks, and essentials,” DiVincent said. “When we reach out to more poverty-stricken families and youth, our youth leaders can pull them aside quietly and level the playing field and give them the basics they need to go back out and have fun and be a kid and enjoy climbing with other kids in the community.”
While the gym does make money from memberships, day passes and week passes, Brunswick Rocks does receive funding from other sources. For example, the gym applies for grants throughout the year, such as the Community Development Block Grant, which they received through their city, allowing them to purchase fitness equipment. Additionally, the gym receives yearly donations from local partnering businesses and individual families. “All that money goes toward our programming, keeping the lights on, and paying overhead,” DiVincent said.
According to DiVincent, 100 percent of the staff are volunteer-based, which can come with unique challenges. Seasonality, for example, can be difficult—parents tend to volunteer less when their kids are out of school, and holidays come with the expected scheduling conflicts. In response, DiVincent recommends having a balance of volunteers in different age ranges, with different yearly schedules. Another difficulty is applying for insurance, which can come with some “extra barriers and hurdles” and “additional information” needed as a volunteer-run gym, DiVincen detailed. In the case of Brunswick Rocks, the insurance company needed to know that “volunteer staff have above and beyond training to handle every scenario in the gym.” Fortunately, the city provided free CPR training for all volunteers, and the gym provides regular trainings each month. “What helps us is we’re only about 5,000 square feet, so it’s very manageable as a nonprofit. It’s not a huge gym. With three volunteers, we can be staffed to be open,” DiVincent said. “There’s just extra red tape you have to go through. Things move a lot slower.”
Walls: Walltopia
Flooring: ClimbMat
CRM Software: Approach
Website: www.brunswickrocks.org/
Instagram: @BrunswickRocksGym
In Their Words: “A lot of these projects start with passion, right? And Michael and I definitely have no shortage of passion. We wanted to bring this to the community that’s treated us so well for so long with our other outdoor businesses. This was basically our gift back to them. We’ll never pull a salary. We’ll never pull a single dollar from it. And 100% of the funds from the operations always roll right back into Brunswick Rocks to make sure it’s here for the community as long as they want it.” – Jared DiVincent, Co-Owner of Brunswick Rocks
