NWBRV and our partners at NE Distance are featured in the April 2014 edition of RI Monthly. The article, titled “Run Like the Wind,” highlights the unique collaboration between the two organizations and how they work in harmony to change the lives of Woonsocket youth.
NE Distance is a New England based nonprofit organization with a unique dual mission to promote health and well-being among children while providing support to post-collegiate athletes on a training path to top-level competition. NE Distance established an athlete-in-residence fellowship program in the city of Woonsocket, Rhode Island in 2012. The organization recruits top-level post-collegiate track athletes and provides them with housing, travel stipends, gear, physical therapy and places to train. When they are not training to represent New England at top-level meets, each NE Distance athlete fellow works 16-20 hours per week in after-school programs, providing mentorship, coaching, and tutoring through a partnership with NWBRV and the Woonsocket After-School Coalition. Athletes live in NWBRV-developed housing within the community to model good habits for health including physical activity and smart eating habits. The program is based on our existing In-Residence program and continues to expand with great success.