The Light of Hope
The BackBlast:
Redgrave… a Man who needs no introduction among Fortitude Pax…but YHC will give him one anyway. “Redgrave” was named after his first girlfriend “Vanessa,” by the Right Rev. Flo-rida in March 2017 at a pre-Fortitude launch CORE workout at Myers Park Traditional. Other nickname gems that day included “NonStick” for “Pam.” And “2-Ply” for “Kimberly [-Clark]”; FWIW, 2-Ply hears what he wants to hear and is likely still referring to himself as “2-Fly” to this day.
Redgrave became a Fortitude regular, beloved for his consistency and enthusiasm, once captured on camera by Slaughter during a chance encounter at a N. Tryon gas station, in what become a Fortitude Promo video worthy of the WWE Hall of Fame.
Redgrave holds the distinction of being the first Pax to join F3 while staying at the Men’s Shelter and then later workout outside of the Shelter as a housed man, jogging down from his apartment in Cherry to join the Pax at Attila.
Non-Fortitude regulars may recognize Redgrave from Come to the Table, where he spoke to the Pax about what F3 meant to him.
This is what YHC, Curly, and Redgrave did Wednesday evening at Fortitude:
Warm-ups dynamic stretching in place: Thigh, Knee ups, Lunge, One leg, Kicks, hurdles.
Arm circles 10s/10b. Grass Picker.
Arm circle 10s/10b. Imperial Walker.
Merkins 10 single count LBCs. 10 in cadence.
Mountain Climbers 20 IC.
Arms: Curls, overhead press, Skull Crusher w/ Dumbbells
Legs: Jane Fonda left leg, Jane Fonda right leg, Mule Kick Left Leg, Mule Kick Right Leg; Fire Hydrant L; Fire Hydrant R
Core: Freddie Mercury, LBCs, Rosalita
NMM:
It was great to see Redgrave, although YHC would much prefer to see him picking up the newspaper at end of his driveway or raking leaves his in yard, than waiting for a mat at the Shelter.
Seeing Redgrave brought back a memory of early validation of the effect that the Fortitude workout can have on the men who join us from the Shelter. YHC volunteered in the computer room in the week before we launched Fortitude in March 2017 and noticed the man who came to be Redgrave waiting in line for dinner, head-hanging low with little energy or enthusiasm.
Fast-forward to the week following the Fortitude launch, newly-named Redgrave bounded into the computer room with a smile on his face and a light in the eyes, sharing that he had reconnected since the workout with four old friends from his hometown.
YHC mentioned the transformation later that week to Roof Above CEO Liz Clasen-Kelly; Liz shared that many men at the Shelter are ashamed to be there and that the sense of accomplishment that Redgrave felt from completing the workout and the community that Redgrave felt from being part of the Pax had restored enough of his sense of self-worth, to give him the confidence to pick up the phone and connect with people who cared about him.
In that sense, Fortitude is not much different than any other F3 workout, meeting men where they are and providing them with a sense of accomplishment and the support of Brotherhood, enabling them to flip the switch and begin to accelerate.
Liz also shared that the light I saw in Redgrave’s eyes was Hope…and that’s what the Staff of Roof Above work so diligently day-in and day-out to spark in the men and women who utilize their services, by meeting them where they are, during one of the most challenging times of their lives, and offering them the support and encouragement to begin to accelerate.
If you’ve attended Fortitude or a Men’s Shelter / Roof Above breakfast / lunch in the past, you’ll be getting an email from me soon, inviting you to attend and/or support this year’s True Blessings’ Luncheon titled “Rise to the Challenge of a New Day” (Thursday, Nov. 17th, Noon to 1, at the Charlotte Convention Center). I’d also like to extend the invitation to True Blessings to any Pax who found F3 during Fortitude’s long pandemic-induced hiatus; you can register here: https://bit.ly/tb2022registration.
Peace,
Pipeline