Evolve for All offers accessible fitness coaching, inclusive community | Select

At first glance, Evolve Fitness seems just like any other gym — from the music to the equipment and everything in between.

Look a little deeper, though, and it becomes apparent that it’s far from being just another gym.

In February, the fitness center, located at 1712 Square Turn Blvd., converted from a for-profit business to a nonprofit organization, shifting its focus toward addressing what founder Brooks Boyer referred to as “a missing link” in the fitness industry: Accessibility for those with disabilities.

“There’s a very underserved population of individuals, and that group is people with disabilities,” Boyer said. “When I say disabilities, I mean anything — whether that is someone who suffered a spinal cord injury, amputations, developmental disabilities.”

Boyer said that while he and his team recognized that there are a lot of services designed specifically for those with disabilities, they can often be isolating.

“There’s a lot of programs in society that service individuals with those needs, but they’re still, in a way, separated or segregated from community,” Boyer said. “It’s a program designed for someone with MS … and while that’s great, we want to disrupt that and create an environment where you just get to come in and, no matter where you’re at in your journey, you get to be a part of it with everyone.”

The element of community, Boyer said, is essential to helping individuals with disabilities develop in their wellness journeys.

“We wanted a gym to talk about inclusivity, and we wanted a space where inclusivity was truly there,” he said.

The motivation for creating a different type of accessible fitness space was centered largely on helping individuals with disabilities take ownership of their health in a way that is not typically supported through traditional avenues of support.

“A lot of times what happens is most of these individuals have, either they were born with a diagnosis or they have had a life-changing event,” Boyer said. “And very often they will get physical therapy. But a lot of times, due to insurance, once they reach a certain potential and they’re not showing progress, insurance then kicks them out. And so now, they have to navigate their own health and wellness independently — which, most able-bodied people seek us out because they struggle with their own health and wellness.”

While it’s not a substitute for physical therapy, Boyer said he hopes that the coaching model at Evolve for All can help provide long-term health support when other services end.

“For me, that was the biggest factor,” Boyer said. “We wanted to make sure they had intelligent coaching behind that so that they could take care of their own health.”

Boyer noted that sometimes, individuals with disabilities can even end up with secondary medical conditions as a result of not exercising because of their disability — a situation Evolve for All hopes to help them avoid.

Plus, Boyer noted that the individualized coaching could help not only those with disabilities, but also their caretakers.

“There’s more strain and burden on a caretaker,” he said of the lack of support for ongoing health and wellness support for those with disabilities. “So we want to create some independence for them.”

Boyer said that, truthfully, not much has changed since the organization made the switch.

“Honestly, the idea was to do what we’ve already been doing and just include the individuals with disabilities,” he said. “So as far as things go, the programming hasn’t changed, the structure hasn’t changed, coaches, hours, everything’s the same.”

Evolve’s model centers on small-group coaching. Coaches are on the floor of the gym at all times when it is open.

“Depending on class size, we could have anywhere from one to six people on the floor (per coach), and we just make rounds and show everybody what they gotta do, and we adjust accordingly to the people that are here,” Boyer said.

Boyer said the gym runs around 16 sessions a day, with the busiest times being 5 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. When more people are there, more coaches are on the floor.

“I like our coaches to be one to five, one to six,” Boyer said. “The coaches that have been with me the longest, we can get up to a one to 10, but we don’t want to lose that personalized coaching aspect.”

As far as what’s going on during all of these sessions, Boyer said that Evolve focuses primarily on strength and conditioning.

“We do do sports performance with youth, and then we have what we call our adaptive athlete sessions,” he said. “But in reality, it’s the same thing as strength and conditioning, but it may be altered to meet someone who’s had a spinal cord injury and is now in a wheelchair, or someone with an amputation, or just meeting them where they’re at and doing the strength and conditioning that’s appropriate for them.”

‘SOMETHING WORTH INVESTING IN’

As a new nonprofit, Evolve for All is making an intentional effort to get its name out into the community and share what it’s doing and what its needs are. Recently, it had a successful showing as part of the Norfolk Area Big Give, where it finished in the top five of all organizations for money raised and brought in more than $12,000.

“It felt really good knowing that obviously what we’re doing is good, and people are seeing that this is something worth investing in,” Boyer said.

Boyer shared that there are three areas that donations are funneled toward within the organization. First and foremost is scholarships to cover the gym’s cost for participants.

“That was a nonstarter for me,” Boyer said. “If someone came in and they couldn’t afford it, we did not want them to be turned away. … Right now, with the clients we have, we have up to 19 months’ worth of scholarships. So I could cover everyone that’s coming for almost two years at this point.”

The second area is for adaptive fitness equipment. While the gym is not looking to purchase any specific equipment right now, Boyer said they want to be prepared to meet all clients’ needs down the road.

“Depending on each person that walks through the door, we’re going to look at, ‘What are their needs?’ and we may have to get some things to suit them,” he said.

The final area of funding, and the one that most of the Big Give donations will likely be directed toward, is programming. One use of those funds would be to hire a designated program coordinator, “someone that can develop a program for everyone that walks in the door,” Boyer said.

Additionally, Boyer hopes to use this funding to continue increasing the number of coaches Evolve for All employs. Currently, there are 21 coaches, with the potential for a few more to join the staff soon.

“The more coaches we have on the floor, the more people we can serve,” he said.

In addition to the Big Give, Evolve for All also has received grant funding from the Norfolk Area United Way, as well as donations from around 20 local businesses.

Beyond monetary donations, Boyer said community response to the creation of Evolve for All has been huge. On social media, Evolve Fitness used to get “on average, one comment, maybe a handful of likes (and) no shares” on each post it made, Boyer said. But now, with the shift to the nonprofit Evolve for All, its online engagement has skyrocketed.

“We’re getting upwards of six to 10,000 views,” Boyer said. “We’re getting hundreds and hundreds of likes. We’re getting 30 to 60 shares of every post we make. So there’s definitely more. It’s being seen. We’re getting a lot more engagement from the community.”

And while the positive response from the larger community is great, it pales in comparison to the response from the individuals with disabilities that the organization is serving.

“I can’t even express it,” Boyer said of the impact he has witnessed on the adaptive fitness participants. “There’s one kid that, before his dad even parks the car, he is running into the building, smiles ear to ear.”

He also shared about another individual who has undergone limb loss and subsequently struggled with depression, job loss and isolation. He said that the community and friendship provided by Evolve for All has positively impacted his mental health.

“The vibe in here has changed,” Boyer said. “Not that the vibe was bad, but to see how much enjoyment they have, and how much fun they’re having, it’s bringing smiles to everyone’s faces, right? I mean, there’s dance parties in the middle of the session, and so everyone’s smiling and laughing, and it’s just — it’s just great.”

If community members are interested in joining in on the fun, Boyer said the doors are open to volunteers.

“Anyone can come in and just essentially be a friend, be a buddy, hang out with the individuals,” he said. “So far we’ve had 36 people in one session, so it’s busy. While we have a nice-sized building, it gets kind of cluttered. And so, just helping us keep everyone, you know, moving in the right direction and doing things. So if anyone wants to stop in and help — no experience necessary.”

Boyer said the environment at Evolve for All leads to “new friends and connections and relationships” for participants, coaches and volunteers alike — a testament to the positive atmosphere he and his team work to create.

He also encouraged anyone who knows people who might benefit from adaptive coaching at Evolve for All to share the information with them, as they want to continue to help as many individuals with disabilities as possible.

And heading into the future, Evolve for All plans to continue building a welcoming fitness space — one workout, one friendship and one dance party at a time.