Prepare to become angry.
The military has shutdown a military spouse entrepreneur, put her employees out of work and ended an accessible, affordable fitness class being held on a Hawaii base to make room for an outside vendor - who charges more and offers less.
DumBell Fitness has been a staple of the daily workout routine for spouses on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for five years. Even if you didn't participate, you knew of DumBell. We lived there, I didn't attend (probably should have) but my friends did. I knew of the company's outstanding work ethic and the amazing program they offered.
In the last two years alone the program has grown to serve more than 250 spouses and nearby civilians. They offer classes in seven locations in housing units across the base. Classes cost about $9 each. On-site babysitting is included at no extra cost. All the instructors are either military spouses or veterans.
In several media interviews over the past week, DumBell Fitness founder and owner, Christina Landry, a Navy veteran, explained that she had obtained all the proper permits from housing, from JAG and from the Navy to operate.
But eyebrows were raised at MWR when that organization saw the high rate of participation.
Landry was doing it right. She had hundreds of spouses who not just signed up, but who were passionate about participating. DumBell fitness was more than an exercise class, it was a sisterhood of women who were gathering to support each other to reach their fitness goals, care for their families and make the most of their experience as military spouses.
But it appears that MWR missed the point of DumBell's camaraderie and its support of military families' morale, welfare and recreation. All this office seems to have noticed was dollar signs.
MWR suddenly demanded that Landry bid on the contract for a bootcamp style camp. So she did. And she offered to pay MWR 5 percent of her monthly gross.
Not enough. MWR demanded a minimum a minimum of 15 percent. So, they awarded the contract to an outside company and booted Landry and her hundreds of clients and dozens of employees off the base.
MWR is missing the point. Landry, as she explained in multiple media interviews, makes less profits because they keep costs low and pay their trainers well. Landry told a local Hawaii news station that if she were required to pay MWR 15 percent, after expenses, the company would owe more than it makes.
She appealed the decision. She lost.
Are you horrified yet? You should be.
An on-base organization whose entire goal is to promote the wellness and morale of military families has just done the opposite. They have taken a thriving activity run by spouses for spouses and tried to destroy it simply because MWR was making no money from it.
MWR has done the opposite of what First Lady Michelle Obama has pushed for in her Joining Forces campaign. There, the first lady has strived to bring attention to the needs and strength of military families and showcase the skills, experience and dedication of veterans and military spouses to strengthen communities .
MWR had a gem. They had a growing, popular, thriving, military-family owned business. There could have been partnerships. There could have been a chance for MWR to jump on DumBell's wagon and ride to the stars. Instead, leaders here decided to play the bully and toss Landry and her organization away.
I know DumBell fitness will bloom and grow elsewhere. I know MWR threw away an enormous chance to support and be associated with a reputable, well-run, popular business that is doing good for military families.
And I know this is our chance as military spouses to let our leaders know just how angry we are. Write letters to leaders on base and the congressmen in Hawaii. Let them know that we expect our military communities to be built by leaders who do what is right for our neighborhoods, not what makes them the most profit.
Send letters to:
jeffrey.w.james@navy.mil - Commander of JBPHH, Captain James,
thomas.a.jones@navy.mil - JBPHH MWR Director, Thomas Jones
Hawaii Congress Woman, Tulsi Gabbard (link)
Corresponding with the White House (link)
You can also sign the petition at change.org by following this link.
