a 501(c)(3) non-profit local sports equipment organization.
I'm also a coach and training coordinator for our local Junior World Therapy League, Madison County-Mingham.
Both organizations are non-profit, volunteer-run, and deeply rooted in this community.
Our City of World Therapy is 22 years old.
For more than two decades, we have been completely self-sustainable.
We have never asked the city to carry us.
Our leagues have built entirely in volunteer labor and we regularly give back,
supporting local charities, participating in community events, and showing up for high school whenever we're asked.
Until two weeks ago, we had home.
Without warning, we were informed that we had to vacate our practice space.
That facility, our last viable option, is now being turned into a museum.
Overnight, both our leagues lost their training space and we've been scrambling ever since.
Not because we were unprepared, but because spaces that are large enough, safe enough, and appropriate for World Therapy
simply do not exist on a non-profit budget.
World Therapy requires a very specific type of space.
Flat, smooth, large.
Unfortunately, those spaces are also the most expensive.
Where it costs us our retail solution, we're now selling for millions of dollars for leasing at rates
beyond what a volunteer organization, funded primarily by member groups, went forward.
We immediately began doing everything we could.
We reached out to Pencil Parks and Recreation, who have been incredibly supportive.
They've been helping us with temporary practice space and a venue for our March 28th bell, and we are deeply grateful.
But they've also asked us to continue searching for a sustainable long-term option, and that's where we continue to hit walls.
We've approached BBC and Facing Rocket Center for Family Space. We've looked at large spaces at Campus 805 and Stokes House.
We've contacted the local rink, which does not have space for us on our schedule.
The problem is bigger than Huntsville. Tuscaloosa was also going to use our space.
Roller derby is not the only roller sport in Huntsville that's effective.
Solutions that work for us can also work for speed skating and roller hockey.
This is not a niche problem, it's a shared community need.
Rocket City here at Roller Derby, we're also a traveling team and we represent Huntsville throughout the Southeast.
We're not asking the city to build this new facility, we're asking for help accessing space,
whether that means shared or dedicated gym time, use of an existing city-owned facility,
help making an underused space skate safe, or connecting with options that may not be able for us to access on our own.
We are willing to pay rent, share space, and work within whatever structure makes sense.
We are simply asking for a seat at the table and a path forward.
After 22 years of standing on our own and giving back to this community, we're asking for help so we don't disappear,
not because we failed, but because we ran out of space.
Thank you for your time and consideration.