Welcome to our dedicated podcast for Rotary International's District 5750, designed to connect our community through the power of personal storytelling. Each episode celebrates the unique journeys of our fellow Rotarians and community members, highlighting their individual experiences, motivations, and the profound impact of their service and contributions.
Join us as we dive into heartfelt discussions with individuals from all walks of life, sharing stories that inspire and foster connection.
Emmanuel Rivera's path from troubled teen to youth mentor reveals the transformative power of martial arts and positive guidance. As Executive Director of the Come Up Foundation, Rivera now shapes the futures of over 200 children across Oklahoma City through free martial arts training that builds discipline, confidence, and leadership skills.
Moving out at just 16 and lacking male role models, Rivera's early life was marked by poor decisions and legal troubles. After his house was raided, he knew change was essential. His journey took him through several cities, including a stint with a fraudulent magazine sales crew, before he found stability and eventually became a professional MMA fighter. When health issues abruptly ended his fighting career, Rivera channeled his passion into helping youth avoid the struggles he faced.
The Come Up Foundation operates through an innovative outreach model, partnering with schools, churches, and other organizations rather than maintaining a central facility. This strategic approach eliminates transportation barriers and allows them to reach more children where they already gather. They currently offer over 20 free classes weekly, including PE classes and after-school programs, and have even been recognized by Oklahoma City Public Schools as an elective course option for credit.
What begins as martial arts training quickly evolves into comprehensive character development. Rivera explains that while physical training attracts the kids, the program's true purpose is building future leaders who possess emotional intelligence and resilience. The foundation particularly focuses on providing positive male role models in communities where they're often absent.
Rivera's vision extends beyond their current operations. He dreams of dedicated transportation bringing students to a central location after school, where they would receive meals, homework support, and martial arts training in a structured environment. This expanded vision would require growing their annual budget from $150,000 to approximately $500,000, allowing them to provide additional services like counseling and medical support.
Want to support this transformative work? The Come Up Foundation's next fundraiser is April 21st. Follow their journey on Facebook (The Come Up Inc) or Instagram (the_comeup_foundation) to see firsthand how martial arts is building Oklahoma's next generation of leaders.
Welcome to the Rotary Spark Podcast. I'm your host, brian Treiger, and with me today is Emmanuel Rivera, the Executive Director of the Come Up Foundation. How are you doing today, emmanuel? Good good Brian. How are you? I'm doing pretty good. Just enjoyed some sushi with you and Scott over at Sushi Moto in Oklahoma City. So tell us a little bit more about the Come Up Foundation.
Speaker 2:
Man, you know the Come Up Foundation is really made to get kids involved. You know, being able to just find themselves, being able to get confidence, discipline, the important things that make you successful in life. So the come up is really, you know, the martial arts part is to kind of get the kids onto the program and then from there we're training them to be leaders, to find the the good things in life, to just keep moving forward and evolving.
Speaker 1:
So how many kids are involved in your program right now, right?
Speaker 2:
now we have over 200 kids. You know we're teaching over 20 classes free classes a week, so that includes in the schools, that includes PE classes, after-school programs. You know we're partnering up with churches other nonprofit organizations as well, so we have many locations all over Oklahoma City.
Speaker 1:
Can you tell us some of the things that maybe happened in your life, either in the past or recently, that inspired you to go in this direction?
Speaker 2:
Yeah. So you know, when I was young, I was rebellious. I was a kid that lived. You know, I moved out when I was about 16. And so I was living on my own when I was 16. I was trying to be self-sufficient, trying to be independent. My mom was doing everything she could to be able to, you know, provide for us, but at some point I took it upon myself to move out and just be independent. So, you know, I found a lot of struggles in between that. I didn't know what I wanted to do, I didn't know what direction. I didn't know what I wanted to be. I didn't have those male role models in my life. I was also lazy, you know. I wasn't really trying to look for those for that help, for those male role models.
Speaker 2:
So, you know, one thing led to another got in trouble. There was a lot of a lot of trouble in a short span in my life when I was young. So my house got raided. I got in trouble the week after as well and at that point, you know a very low part of my life. I was like I got to do something, I got to get out of this town and really, you know, figure something out, because this isn't it.
Speaker 2:
And I moved from Chicago to, you know, from Chicago to this small town where I got in trouble. So trouble just followed me and yeah, so I ended up going on a magazine crew, door-to-door selling magazines. It was all a scam. They ditched us in Seattle. We took, you know, all the kids that were working with each other. We all got together and went to Oregon, portland, oregon. Lived in a hotel, you know, did what we had to do to survive, essentially, so it wasn't the lifestyle in a hotel. You know, did what we had to do to survive, essentially so it wasn't the lifestyle. So eventually, you know, I didn't want to go back to that small town where I got in trouble.
Speaker 2:
So I went to Las Vegas and, uh, was able to find a job down there, get off the drugs and uh, yeah, in in vegas, I really did a lot of soul searching and eventually ended up moving back to oklahoma to help my mom. Um, so that's, you know, the come up was something that just, uh, I, I needed something to fulfill me and being a professional fighter, um, it was fulfilling me. But unfortunately my health went south. I started passing out randomly and at the peak of my career, I had to stop fighting. So that's kind of where this led me. I said you know, what else can I do? What else can I do to fulfill me, like mixed martial arts did? And you know, this came about.
Speaker 1:
It's interesting that you mentioned the impact of not having a male role model and you know that cycle is spoken about kind of frequently and I love the fact that you broke that pattern right.
Speaker 1:
You know we get these guys in our lives that most likely didn't have positive male role models for themselves and then they introduce themselves to kids and whether it's creating those kids or being step parents, etc. And they're inevitably perpetuating that cycle to some extent. But we get people like you, or really anyone who maybe recognizes those patterns, and we are creating just more opportunities to participate in the community in order to be somewhat compassionate as to where those where those holes were or are and kind of filling up those gaps. So I love, I love what you're doing and I can definitely connect on that level when you know I definitely experienced some times in my life where, you know, not having a male role model and not being one myself, uh just really required a period of life to do some soul searching prior to, you know, working to something that was working for something greater than myself.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think that you know a lot of people are are kind of complacent in what they're doing and don't know where. Are kind of complacent in what they're doing and don't know where to go to find that strength right, whether to find a male role model or just a role model in general or be one. There's a lot of great people out there that need to challenge themselves to just do better, be better than the person you were yesterday, and a lot of people will find happiness in that. But it's a struggle. It's easier said than done, right. People get complacent and they're stuck where they're at.
Speaker 1:
Definitely. Yeah, I see that all the time. So tell us a little bit about your initial exposure to Rotary. I've seen you in a few of the meetings. That's when I was inspired to reach out to you directly because I really enjoy the content that you provide and the overall message and participation that you have in the community that I can see. So tell us a little bit more about how you got exposed to Rotary for the first time.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you know we were talking and you know I'm new to this Rotary world and I'm new to a lot of this. I'm new to the non-profit world, so there's been a lot of learning experiences. So I've to a lot of this. I'm new to the nonprofit world, so there's been a lot of learning experiences. So I've had a lot of great people that have led me to organizations that want to help a lot rotaries that want to help lodges, things like that. So it's it.
Speaker 2:
Rick Farmer was a huge part of that. Rick Farmer's a guy that some people may or may not know around here, but he's. He's helped a lot of people. He's part of the same church that I'm part of, me and my family are part of, and it's one of those things that got led and it just started happening. I started going to do speeches. I've never done speeches in front of people, so I had to learn a lot of things along the way. Yeah, but it's been amazing to see, see unbeknownst to me how many groups out there are getting together to see what they can do to help the community, and to me that's just amazing.
Speaker 1:
One of the ideas that pops into my head right now that I'd like to maybe spotlight is, if you haven't already communicated with the chair and or the individuals tied to the committees for Wings of Rotary, as well as RILA, which is the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, if I'm not mistaken, and then also Interact and Rotaract chairs tied to all of the Rotaract and Interact programs. Rotaract chair is tied to all of the Rotaract and Interact programs. Long story short, Rotaract is for colleges. Essentially, just imagine an integrated Rotary club within a college, and same goes for the Interact within high school as well.
Speaker 1:
Not having a specific agenda on my end or seeing where you can or can't collaborate, but I think that as you get to know the people that are helping youth in different ways, younger people in different ways, since you guys are all making such great strides with having a positive impact on youth, I think that the more opportunities that all of you guys have to get together will help strengthen all of your causes. So this is just kind of a quick you know seed plant. Also, just a shout out to all of the Interact and or Rotaract, Ryla, Wings Chairs, anyone else involved in any type of youth activities. I think it's fantastic, uh, a fantastic opportunity for everyone to develop, you know, even a stronger community, to uh impact young people, and I just love the fact that you guys are so dedicated to youth.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you know it's. That's one amazing thing. I've had businesses in the past, you know, some successful, some failed, you know. So I've had a lot of experience and the experience in the nonprofit world has been amazing because it's not a competitive world, from my experience at least. You know everyone's been open arms, everyone's been open arms, everyone's willing to give up their connections and introduce people that they know to help, even if it's someone that has another nonprofit. It's just amazing to see that in the world where people are supposed to have good hearts do Most people do in this world or in this arena, rather nonprofit arena, that's been amazing to see just how good people are and and how much they want to help yeah, it's.
Speaker 1:
Uh, I think when I first got exposed to it it was a little bit bizarre. Yeah, I didn't, I didn't trust it and I still don't in some ways, and you know that's a little bit controversial to say while I'm doing this podcast or being in rotary. But at the end of the day, I think, you know, we all, we're all human, yeah, and nonprofits raise money, so there's still, I would say, some competition, and they're packaged differently, the narrative's different, for, you know, sometimes authentic reasons and sometimes just for advertising purposes. So, you know, I think that, uh, the caution is still necessary, but I would say that the non-profit world has opened me up to that fact. But an extension of that is that, not only in the non-profit world, but whether it's in the political, religious, corporate and the interconnection between all of the different classifications of groups, there's a lot more good than I was originally aware of. I had much more of a scarcity mentality prior to diving into the nonprofit world.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, no, the business world is a lot different. It's a lot different, sure, and this is I'm so glad that I've made that switch over. And I want to make something clear too is a lot of people think that we have a gym. We don't have a gym. We are currently looking for a possible space. But, right, you know, when we first started this program, we were asking ourselves what is the most effective way to outreach as many kids as possible? And if we had a start off with a location, then you're only servicing a certain area because you know, getting rides, transportation, transportation all these things are a challenge for the kids that we're serving.
Speaker 2:
So we ended up going with the structure of partnering up with organizations that already have these kids, like non-profits, uh, other churches, etc. And then we finally got, you know, accepted by Oklahoma City Public Schools, which is the best outreach structure or strategy. Rather, to do so, we're currently in in schools teaching PE class, taking over PE classes. You know, john Marshall just named us as a, as an elective option for a kid to take. As for MMA, take a MMA class for a credit. I mean just the milestones have been amazing and it's a testament to the nonprofit arena, because so many people have helped me get there.
Speaker 1:
That's amazing, and let's look if we're doing kind of an audio, audible vision board right now, let's talk about this building right. So, whether it's, you know, a, a rental space or commercial property or a kind of a shared partnership tied to another organization, do you like, I guess, behind the scenes, tied to operations, do you guys have a general idea of what type of funding that's going to require? Like, is there a target goal of, hey, you know, if we got X amount of funds, we would be set for the next one to five years at least, with whatever our next step is. Do you have that in place?
Speaker 2:
So right now, as far as the building, not necessarily we're kind of new, it's kind of a new idea, you know, in bringing in this year, but you know we're operating around $150,000 a year is what we're operating right now. Okay, so that's. You know, every year I'm trying to exceed that, sure, and um. That that you know obviously takes care of some of the instructors, the gear, the time, the. You know everything that comes with the accountants and you know there's a lot of uh. People might hear that number and think that they're set, but there's a lot of things that go with, you know, having a program running and you know you're kind of well, if you're smart, you're fundraising for the year after Sure, so you're staying ahead. So it's been amazing right now.
Speaker 2:
But we are at the point where we need to find a location, location, um, and you know we're looking at probably half a million a year just to be able to do exactly what we want.
Speaker 2:
Okay, because we want to be able to provide um, not only the, the space, but, you know, the. We want to be able to provide uh, therapy, counseling, you know, a medical uh, things like that, to be able to, you know, be able to provide just one all-in-one kind of building the kids. My vision, my ultimate vision, is having the come-up buses parking behind the regular buses at schools, you know, and picking up the kids that are on the come up or you know, however we figure that out and taking them to this location, where they get off, they eat, they're able to do their homework. You know, they're there from 4 to 5 30 and at 6, mixed martial art class starts. By the time 7 30, you're done, you're able to go home. Well, the rest of your homework's done, everything's good, right. So that's the ultimate vision. Okay, to be able to have a building like that and you guys are getting there.
Speaker 1:
So like let's, uh, you know, without getting too, uh, you know, crossing the line too much. It's an extra, you know, 350 000 a year. Yeah, maybe 30k a month, right, uh, close to about 972 dollars a day. Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:
Yeah. So at the end of the day, it's just uh I don't know a challenge to any of our listeners or really anyone out there who's interested in the cause, to help everyone involved getting to that point. So I think it's really good and I try to challenge myself to do this right. You know the whole manifestation doing the vision board of okay, I have this goal. You know, whether it's something small like my car, put a picture of the car up, it comes into existence, right, um. So, uh, I guess to get to that point, are there any, uh any fundraising projects uh coming up that we can kind of pass the message on, whether it's through this podcast or, you know, an email blast.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you know, and I can certainly send you the poster, but we do have a. You know we've had in the past we've had roasts comedy roasts for our fundraising events. So the very first year we roasted a political consultant and it was an amazing roast. We did it at the Will Rogers Theater. The year after, which was last year, we did it at the Will Rogers Theater as well and we roasted the mourning animals from the sports animal.
Speaker 2:
And then this year we have our smaller fundraiser event coming up April 21st, which will be, you know, politicians reach out and they want to bring light to our organization and it's a very bipartisan event. Joy Hoffmeister, former state superintendent, is going to be presenting Our speaker, mark Wayne Mullen, to just talk to these kids, bring light, bring hope, and that'll be April 21st. You can check out the information on social media At Facebook is the Come Up Inc and then Instagram is the Come Up Underscore Foundation and you can check out all the videos we have on there. I mean, it's just a great place. As you know, social media is a great place to see kind of what your organization is about and what they do behind the scenes.
Speaker 1:
I'm really excited. This is a need that we have. Just with what we see every single day, we could look at just one stat tied to wherever we're ranked, tied to health we're number what 49 in the nation yeah, very high.
Speaker 1:
And we need to be doing more things like what you and your organization is doing in order to get Oklahoma in a position where it provides more hope for our young people. I think we owe it to them to give them a state and an environment that not only gives them more health opportunities but educational opportunities, instead of being surrounded by an oppressive statistic that leads. I just love everything that you're doing. I look forward to you, know, getting a little, a little bit more involved, even if it's just kind of tapping into your socials and stuff like that. Uh, what's, if any um advice would you be giving to kids, uh, young adults really anyone listening that kind of want to take, that want to take their lives to the next step, that want to create more of an independent lifestyle for themselves?
Speaker 2:
you know, you know I would tell, first of all is find your challenges. Find your challenges. What is your? What is stopping you from doing that right and then trying to find a solution? Now, if you can't find a solution on your own, don't be afraid to ask for help. And that's that goes for kids, that goes for adults.
Speaker 2:
A lot of times, and you know me being a, you know a professional fighter, and they think that these, you know, we're all about being tough and you know I can be an emotional guy, I can be many other things opposite of tough, and I have to tell myself as well that I can ask for help. I have people that care about me, that ask, and that I can ask for help. So don't be afraid, don't be afraid to ask for help, don't be afraid to face your challenges. You know you can't just put a band-aid over them and that would. That will not last. The cards will eventually fall.
Speaker 2:
You have to face the challenges, deal with the anxiety, challenge that anxiety and then come out winning on the other side. I mean, that's exactly what we teach it to come up is being able to get these kids in the program to teach them how to be dangerous but in the meantime there's learning. So much discipline and they control that danger. They're able to control that day. It takes it takes discipline to be good, right, it takes discipline to be good and and. And it takes discipline to be good. And you have to be able to know how to control your mind, know how to be emotional intelligent. You have to be able to pick and choose. You know when let those emotions out and when to harness them and being able to put them in something else positively.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, that's great advice and, yeah, I think this won't be our last conversation, so thank you for coming out. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone in Rotary District 5750 that's involved in this project, whether you're a listener, supporter, whether you've donated really any capacity. Just thank you to Rotary International, to IT Spark as well, and to our intern, hannah Harkrow, that's out of Arkansas right now working as an editorial intern, and anyone else who I haven't mentioned. I really appreciate. Again, I'm going to emphasize my gratitude towards our listeners. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and we'll see you next week. Thank you.
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