Vermont Gym is affiliated with The Phoenix and connects to the Neighboring Addiction Recovery Center

Image Credit: Courtesy of Lupi LaRoe

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On May 1st, CrossFit RisingStar will host its first sober fitness class in Rutland, VT as a subsidiary of The Phoenix, a nonprofit that provides fitness opportunities for people recovering from substance use disorders.

The big picture: CrossFit RisingStar shares an alley with West Ridge Center, an addiction recovery clinic. This and its location in Vermont, known as “Heroin Capital of America”, make the subsidiary an ideal location to become a Phoenix partner.

• CrossFit RisingStar is the third Phoenix-affiliated gym in Vermont.

The gym’s partnership with The Phoenix follows on the heels of one Fundraiser Started by owner Rob DiTursi in December to raise funds for the sober fitness program and to fund a mural painted in the alley of CrossFit RisingStar and West Ridge Center.

• To date, the campaign raised just over $ 11,000. DiTurisi plans to use these funds as a cushion so that the gym “doesn’t run out of money when the swing kicks in”.
• “Do I suddenly need a few eight-pound medicine balls? I could. Do I need other, smaller kettlebells? Different bigger kettlebells? I want to be able to have that [money] Have that ready, ”he explains.
• Rutland Regional Medical Center, The owner of the West Ridge Center was the first donor to the fundraiser. DiTursi, who has already begun developing a relationship with his neighbor, believes that a positive relationship between the two is “critical to the program’s success”.

Behind the program: Becoming part of an organization like The Phoenix has always been something DiTursi wanted to do, especially after opening a gym next to a convalescent clinic.

• “CrossFit saved my life. Not out of addiction or something, but just dug me out of a hole in my life, ”says DiTursi. “I knew when I started doing what I wanted to do, which was to open a gym, I wanted to help people as it helped me, and the best piece of real estate happened to be right next to a methadone clinic.”
• Before signing the lease for his partner, DiTursi says he checked the clinic, sat in the parking lot and saw hundreds of people walk through the doors. “I might as well have been in a normal supermarket parking lot,” he says. “They were all, from all walks of life.”

A few months later, DiTursi hooked up with LaRoe, a local mural painter.

• “I’m outside of my alley Rowing or something, I look at this white wall and see people coming out of the clinic who just turn around and walk, ”says DiTursi. “I thought, ‘This is where it starts.'”

The mural: DiTursi gave LaRoe a simple challenge: “Inspire people”.

• LaRoe translated DiTursi’s words into a portrait of a tough kid with an “androgynous and resilient face” that is supposed to evoke different reactions from different people.
• “For me, she resonates as a young version of me; a somewhat troubled child. But she could represent any number of things to someone else, hopefully a story that fits their life and inspires them to find their way out of addiction, ”explains LaRoe.
• “It was so interesting to see,” says DiTursi, discussing the wall process. “When the people came out [of the recovery clinic] They stopped and said, “Wow, we love what you do and thank you.””

Photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/crossfitrisingstar

The details: DiTursi plans to lead the first sober fitness classes on Saturday with the help of a member to whom he ultimately wants to pass the program on. This member, who will earn his L1 in mid-April, joined CrossFit RisingStar fresh from recovery.

• The classes are CrossFit-focused and open to all levels.
• “For this reason, the class structure is a little different,” says DiTursi. The courses last about an hour and a half, and … basically, to begin with, let’s say 20 minutes of this course will go through the basics – in great detail – of everything we’re working on. ”
• The cost of the class, Like all programs run by The Phoenix, it’s 48 hours of sobriety.
• Become a part of The PhoenixDiTursi completed online training with the organization. As soon as CrossFit RisingStar has its first class, All sober fitness classes can be found (and registered) online on the Phoenix website.

DiTursi says he already got a lot of interest from people in other areas – yoga and fine arts, to name a few – to embark on his program in the future. However, he is currently focused on CrossFit and hopes to build a core group of participants.

Go on: DiTursi says his main problem right now is controlling the swing. “You know,” he says, “people want to start [the program] now.”

• While he waits for May 1st to roll around, DiTursi plans to keep him Fundraising.

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